





# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. | 

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{ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 



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UN-IVE11SAUSM 



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WAR WITH THE BIBLE AND REASON. 



PROVE ALL THINGS."— Paul. 



BY NICHOLAS VAN ALSTINE, 

EVANGELIC LUTHERAN MINJ8IES. 

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BALTIMORE: 



PRINTED AT THE PUBLICATION ROOMS 

01 IHL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 

KO. 7, SOUTH LIBERTY STREET* 



1647. 



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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, To Wit: 

Be it Remembered, That on the fourteenth day of April, Anno 
Domini, 1847, Nicholas Van Alstine, of the said District, has de- 
posited in this Office the title of a Book, the title of which is in the 
words following, to wit: Modern Univcrsalism at War with the Bible 
and Reason. a Prove all things." — Paul. By Nicholas Van Alstine, 
Evangelic Lutheran Minister. The right whereof he claims as 
Author. 

In conformity with an Act of Congress, entitled An Act to amend 
the several Acts respecting Copy Rights. 

AURELIAN CONKLING, Clerk of the District.. 



C O N TENTS 
CHAPTER I. 

MODERN UNIVER3ALISM, &,C 

Its change from what it once was — its present chief position — 
the uncertainty of its full realization — at death, or after the re- 
surrection — the intermediate state — unconscious sleep of the 
soul — distinction of character in the resurrection — Restoration- 
ism, its absurdity — holiness — divine paternity — the image of 
God, natural and moral — who shall be saved, believers, infants 
and idiots - - - - - page 13 

CHAPTER II. 

HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

What Universalisni teaches — that all are born as pure as Adam 
was— views of Ballou, Skinner, Le Fevre and others — the 

Scriptures teach otherwise — what depravity has not done in 

what.it consists— its results— sin confined to the body — the 
soul never sins — disproved — God, the Author of sin — total de- 
pravity denied— the doctrine defended. - - page 43 

CHAPTER III. 

PENALTY OF SIN. 

The Jews and christians believed in future and everlasting pun- 
ishment — but Universalists dissent— not inclined to discuss fu- 
ture punishment — their views — heaven never forfeited by sin- 
sin no influence beyond death — proved that heaven is forfeit- 
ed — eternal life implies the heavenly state — the penalty of sin 
— it is death — natural death denied, but proved — moral death — 
eternal death — death, negation of life. - - page 74 

CHAPTER IV. 

PUNISHMENT OF SIN. 

DniversaJism toar-hos thai all punishment is confined to this life 



JV 

— their doubts manifest — their proofs that all suffering ceases 
at death — sin punishes itself — not by inflictions of God, but of 
conscience — its absurdity stated — all punislmient is emcnda- 
tory — opinion of A. B. Grosh — confuted — punishment, the 
greatest good of man — disproved — the doctrine of punishment 
stated — its objects — to vindicate law — reward the sinner — the 
evil of sin — the nature of punishment — a deprivation of hap- 
piness — sutler natural consequences — positive — future punish- 
ment — its necessity — to justify his Providence — to prevent 
. the escape of the wicked — conscience in all ages confirms it — 
the Scriptures teach it — by its terms and figures — locality — 
descriptions inappropriate to this life — the contrast of happi- 
ness and misery — conditionality of salvation — the same charac- 
ter in both worlds — after death — after the resurrection and 
Judgment — its Eternity — punishment not corrective — eternal, 
from words and phrases — the character of men opposite, their 
rewards in duration parallel — no conversion and pardon beyond 
this life — the sentence irrevocable. - - page 96 

CHAPTER V. 

SALVATION FROM SIN. 

The Scriptural doctrine — denial of salvation from the punish- 
ment of sin — only from present evil — first punished, then par- 
doned — moral government, its basis and exercise— what pub- 
lic justice — the doctrine of forgiveness from deserved punish- 
ment through Christ, stated and defended — salvation also from 
sin — those who are fully punished cannot be saved — no salva- 
tion but what saves from punishment. - page 209 

CHAPTER VI. 

ATONEMENT. 

Universalism, how far infidelity — Paine's view of Christ — denial 
of salvation and heaven by the sufferings of Christ — no vicari- 
ous atonement — the Apostles and others suffered as much, and 
to the same intent as Christ — the death of Christ peculiar — 
vicarious — elevates to heaven — purchases the crown. 

page 251 



V 

CkAPTfcH VII 

i:i ii S i vnck, PAITHj vm> REGJENEB LTIO 

i are conditions of present and final salvation — denied by 
Universaliats— their views of repentance — the true view — of 
faith as belief on evidence — the defect — true faith — Regenera- 
tion — dissent from the common opinion — merely external — 
morality — not supernatural — stated, as taught by Christ — a 
radical change of heart effected by a supernatural agent — reli- 
gion no condition of divine favor nor of heaven — so Ballou 
teaches — not the Bible — all reject it as necessary to final salva- 
tion — how then do Universalists expect to be saved — by the 
resurrection — will of God — His purpose — His promises. 

pages 249 
CHAPTER VIII. 

THE GODHEAD AND SUPREME DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 

The importance of the doctrine — the Trinity rejected by Univer- 
salists — Supreme Divinity of Christ rejected — created and de- 
pendent — one God in three subsistences proved — as a/ad, not 
as to the mode — Divinity of Christ — equal to God — names of 
God applied — passages of the Old Testament applied to Je- 
hovah are applied to Christ in the New Testament — attri- 
butes — worship — he was human as well as divine — practical 
influence of the doctrine. - page 291 

CHAPTER IX. 

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 

The doctrine stated — denied by Socinians and others — all mind 
is matter refined — views of Balfour, of Ballou and of Le Fevre 
— hope of future and endless existence based on the resurrec- 
tion — Abner Kneeland — materialism — this is a legitimate re- 
sult of Universalism carried out — materialism proven to be 
false — a conscious intermediate state — no annihilation of the 
wicked — the souPs immortality reasonable and Scriptural — 
believed in all ages — desired — structure of mind — moral im- 
provement — its sprirituality — Scriptural. - - page 318 



CHAPTER X. 

PROBATION AND RETRIBUTION. 

This doctrine repudiated by Universalism — what views are « 
mon to the denomination — the doctrine stated and proved — 
man is under moral government — state of discipline — analogy 
— the Bible proves the doctrine. • - - page 342 

CHAPTER XI. 

RESURRECTION. 

Universalism teaches that all mankind will be equal in the re- 
surrection, and enter heaven — the time when not known — Bal- 
four's opinion— not the same body raised — the man is raised — 
no distinction of character — philosophical argument against 
the same bodies being raised — the power of God sufficient — 
explanation of Scripture as quoted by Universalists — Matth. 
xxii. 29, 30; also, 1 Cor. 15, — the resurrection — the time 
when — the distinction of character. - page 362 

CHAPTER XII. 

JUDGMENT. 

The Judgment passed — is now in session — commenced at the 
beginning of his reign — 2 Tim. iv. 1, considered — also Matth. 
xvi. 27, 28. — Christ's kingdom — his coming — not at Jerusa- 
lem, but end of the world — the Judgment literal — after the re- 
surrection — Jesus Christ the Judge— full of pomp and splen- 
dor — rectitude for its principle — draw a line of separation be- 
tween the good and bad 3 and reward them accordingly. 

page 403 
CHAPTER XIII. 

ERRONEOUS AND IMMORAL. 

Covered with duplicity — error and contradictions — their tenets 
stated — their views of Satan — a few passages considered — im- 
moral in tendency — irreverence for the Bible — contempt for 
religious devotion — blunts conscience and blends moral char- 
acter — none converted to God by this system — none made 
prayerful and more pious — its results in hatred and dissention 
— testimony of Whittaker and others — all should disfellowship 
and discountenance it. - - - page 442 



PREFACE. 

The prefatory remarks of any book are designed to express 
the motives and design of the Author, ano*to introduce consider- 
ations suitable to the better understanding of its contents. It 
seems therefore desirable, if not indispensable, that the following 
work should present to the reader succinctly the motives and de- 
sign of its production. 

1. We did not aspire after the applause of men nor seek to 
clothe our name with literary popularity. To secure these, two 
tilings are requisite. The selection of a popular subject, and the 
display of eminent literary attainments, in order to charm and 
fascinate the reader with originality, beauty of style and graceful 
sentences. We were well aware, that the subject chosen would 
impress no one with novelty, and the manner of its treatment 
would captivate no one with its peculiar originality, or with its < 
flowing and literary style. Were the Author qualified for the 
task of displaying vast attainments in literature, profound criti- 
cism, iron logic and overwhelming eloquence (to all of which he 
makes no special pretension,) nevertheless the subject discussed 
and the peculiar circumstances, as well as the chief object, under 
which this treatise was written would altogether preclude such 
aspiration and vanity. The applause of men, we do not antici- 
pate to reap ; but rather antipathy and defamation from a certain 
source; and for literary popularity we have not labored, it being 
not very essential for usefulness in the kingdom of Christ. 

2. Neither have we desired to provoke controversy, nor to dis- 
play critical discernment, to gratify the vanity of mere conquest.. 
We are not fond of controversy, for if this were a characteristic 
of our mind, we might have been gratified heretofore upon sev- . 
eral occasions in reference to this subject. Whoever lives in the ♦ 
midst of U niversalists must pursue a strange course ia order to 
1 



PREFACE. 



1 



escape every occasion of controversy. We have ever labored 
with the impression on our mind, that a pitched controversy on 
this or any other moral question is of doubtful utility — it savors 
more of mere wrangling than of a sound, candid and conscienti^ 
ously earnest discussion. However, we would not convey the 
idea that a thorough discussion from the pulpit of this, or any 
other question, is always out of place ; but we are fully satisfied 
that a candid and earnest investigation of error before an enlight- 
ened audience is obliga^ry upon every ambassador of Christ, and 
is of vital importance to the general character of truth and reli- 
gion. The style of the following work will challenge no contro- 
versy, if the presentation of the truth in contrast with errdr does 
not. It is not desirable to excite the irascible and wrangling spir- 
it of man unnecessarily ; but rather to induce to sober, candid, 
calm, and impartial investigation of the relative importance of the 
claims of truth and error. If the reader wishes to controvert, let 
him step into the arena of warfare in a prayerful frame of mind 
with enlightened Reason and the Bible, and not with the author of 
this book. Mere controversy we do not desire, but a thorough 
discussion of truth and error we do not disclaim. This is right, 
desirable* and fraught with good. 

3. We desire to arrest the spread and deadly influence of error. 
According to the boasting pretension of Universalists, their sect 
is rapidly multiplying in numbers, and their religious faith is 
spreading far and near. However, an exact estimate would 
doubtless greatly reduce the spread of their faith and the number 
of adherents, taking into calculation the waning and utter annihi- 
lation of Universalism where once it flourished ; yet the array of 
this error is formidable in some parts of the land, and the num- 
ber of its advocates is numerous. They register and publish 
about 700 ministers, whose time is spent in vigorous dissemina- 
tion of their principles, and they issue weekly many pages to 
prove. and defend their faith. If the machinery of the press and 
the voice of the preacher are in constant employment to extend 
Universalism, the moral results of which are disastrous to vital 
religion and auxiliary to the spread of infidelity^ then it is indis- 
pensable to create a counteracting current, to unmask this hideous 
form of error, and to snatch its unwary victims from the jaws of 



death. It is necessary to show, that same dr&w the cloak ofUniver- 
ui infidel beart,othen use it to drown sorrow and ward 
off the powerful influeiiceof the Holy Spirit, orto shield utansehres 
from die dire reproach of wilful apostasy from God} in older that c/ 
all those who are anconscidusly ensnared in the wiles of the ' 
Devil may be timely saved from the fearful results of delusion. 

4, We desire to enlighten the public mind and to afford a just 
Understanding of the relative claims of the Bible and of Univ-r- 
salism by holding them up in contrast. We have learnt, as ev- 
ery student of the system will learn, that it is a system of duplic- 
ity. They use Scriptural and theological phrases and terms with 
an occult and new coined idea — the terms are Scriptural and those 
commonly employed among men, but their latitude of meaning 
is quite dissimilar. We have found the public, the learned and 
illiterate, and even some Universalists themselves, egregiously in 
ignorance and in the dark relative to the proper tenets of this 
faith, though many good hooks have been written in confutation 
of the system. How can the common people repel and confute 
the insinuations of this error, unless they know its pretensions 
and perceive the movings of its heart. To successfully foil the 
enemy they must understand the mode of attack and the nature 
of the weapons employed. 

We have therefore, given their faith categorically, fortified with 
their own authority, in order that the reader may learn for him- 
self the construction and position of their whole encampment — 
here they may learn the enemy, their discipline and mode of at- 
tack. The authors to whom we have had access, we have quot- 
ed directly, and to secure the views of others, we have been 
greatly assisted, in some parts of the work, by " Universalism as 
it is," written by Rev. Mr. Hatfield of New York. Thus we 
have favored the reader with a correct statement of their faith, its 
confutation by sound reason and the Scriptures, and the Scrip- 
tural authority relative to its own doctrines thus rudely pervert 
and unsoundly taught by Univer<alism. The whole is present 
in a condensed form, which covers the space of several volumes 
in books already published. 

We were compelled to suppress one chapter in order not to 
expand beyond our intended limits, viz : the views of Univer- 



salists respecting Angels, good and bad, and the Devil, the leader 
of the fallen host. This point did not seem so important to us as 
the topics discussed, therefore this was suppressed in preference 
, to any other. Their views may be secured and a triumphant 
confutation of the same in books already published. We have 
given a short clue to their position and the argument of confuta- 
tion in the last chapter of this book.. 

5. It is necessary to add another book to those already issued 
in view of the constant mutation of the system. Should the 
question be offered, u Why another book in refutation of Uni- 
versalism V 9 The answer might be given, that it is necessary 
because of the changing character of Universalism, it is not now 
what it once was, and it is manifesting itself in new aspects in 
every decade of time ; therefore the arguments which demolished 
the former fabric of this delusion are now ineffectual and inade- 
quate. As the enemy approaches in a different direction and 
armed with new weapons, it is necessary to meet them and con- 
test the ground with suitable armor. Perhaps, the most material 
change the system is now undergoing is in reference to the doc- 
trine of the resurrection. The unvarnished truth is, that they 
have no faith in a literal resurrection — the dead in the grave shall 
never awake to life, and honesty would demand, that the term 
resurrection should be expunged from their creed. 

The number of volumes published as an expose and refutation 
of this dire delusion are able, and well worthy of perusal. " Uni- 
versalism as it is," by E. F. Hatfield, gives a distinct portraiture 
of modern Universalism and every minister of Christ should have 
it. "Universalism, Examined, Renounced and Exposed," by 
M. H. Smith, is a forcible exhibition of the moral machinery and 
moral effects of this delusion. It should be read and circulated, 
for it will do good. The work of Luther Lee, contains a trium- 
phant refutation, its logic sweeps over the rotten fabric of Uni- 
versalism like a hail-storm. To learn the pitiable pettifogging of 
Universalists with the original languages and a powerful and 
clear exposure of the same, the reader may procure " Campbell's 
and Skinner's Discussion." A more modern discussion will be 
found in a book titled, "Debate on Universalism ;" by N. L, 
Rice and E. M. Pingru, at Cincinnati. 



i \( I. XL 

\\ e add mother volume, that the reader nay have in ;i con- 
densed form, the correct portraiture and refutation of this system. 
The people should understand it in order to spurn it from their 
presence, and to comprehend the arguments of its confutation, 
however dogmatically, adroitly or blasphemously it may be pre- 
sented. This, the present work is designed to afford. 

6. The prominent motive of presenting tl>e following pages to 
the public, is, to undeceive if possible, such as are already delud- 
ed^ to save such as are exposed to the temptations of the system, 
and to disprove the claim of Universalists, that the Bible sanctions 
their horrid dogmas. To save souls and promote the glory of 
God is worthy of the most strenuous exertions and the loftiest 
aspiration of man. In the midst of perplexing care and a mul- 
tiplicity of pastoral labors, this work has been written. A thous- 
and times diverted from the subject and after repeated interrup- 
tions, such as every pastor necessarily experiences, the work is 
uted to the public. All the sympathy and lenity we ask, is 
for the composition and the arrangement of the work, and not for 
the arguments- These we believe to be sound and such as will 
stand in defiance of successful confutation ; ibut if they can be 
overthrown, they court the severest scrutiny and the best logical 
deductions. 

The labor and expense incurred by the writer shall be fully 
compensated, if the work scatter divine light in the path of 
the unwary youth, unmask this horrid and deadly delusion and 
vindicate the word of God from the false interpretation and de- 
ceptive glosses. We ask the reader to peruse these pages with 
candor, impartiality and docility. Approach the truth with an 
unbiased mind, and the truth will make you free. And w T e pray 
that Almighty God may pour his divine spirit upon the heart of 
the reader, and that wherever this humble effort of his servant 
may be circulated, the blessing of saving and sanctifying grace 
may accompany it ; souls be saved and reach the climes of end- 
less rest, and God's glory be magnified on earth and extend par- 
allel with eternal ages. N. VAN ALSTINE. 

Fordsboro', Montgomery county, N. F., 1847. 



MODERN UNIVERSALIS! 

AT 

WAR WITH THE BIBLE AND REASON. 
CHAPTER I. 

MODERN UNIVERSALIS*!, &C. 

" To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not 
according to this word, it is because there is no light in 
them" Isaiah viii. 20. 

Truth is immortal, though it may be hid from the eyes 
of men. Once it was read in mystic characters all over 
the heavens, and on the green earth, and in the curiously 
fashioned frame of man, and recognized in the strong im- 
pulses of the soul ; but now sin has so blinded the mental 
eye, and perverted the judgment, and seared the conscience, 
that even Revelation, with its blazing light and cogent evi- 
dences, fails to teach and guide the sons of men in the path- 
way of holiness. They neither speak nor act " according 
to the law and testimony, because there is no light in them." 
■ Among the ever changing things and systems of this muta- 
ble earth is the system of modern Universalism. It is not 
now, what it once was. Many of the tenets Which were 
formerly considered of vital importance, are now rejected. 
Many of the principles which were once adjudged, by tlio.se 



11 MODERN UNIVERSALISM, &C. 

who were then call d Universalists, as anti-christian and 
infidel in their character and tendency, are now incorporat- 
ed in the system of Universalism as essential and vital fea- 
tures. It is stated by those who have traced the rise and 
progress of Universalism, that the system as it now is ma- 
terially, has existed only for the last thirty years, therefore, 
we call the system, modern Universalism. We wish not 
to state what Universalism was when first propagated by 
John Murray, who commenced his career in the year 1770, 
and then show its warlike opposition to the Bible and sound 
reason, for our object will be fully attained by proving that 
Universalism as it now is, is anti-scriptural, fallacious and 
immoral in its tendency. 

It has been deemed by many that the best course to be 
pursued, is, to take no notice of this system, for it will sink 
into ruin of its own accord. However, we discover no de- 
leterious results from an attack on and an expose of Uni- 
versalism, provided, it is done in a respectful and kind man- 
ner ; leaving truth to combat error in a fair, candid, and im- 
partial way. We know, that it is the opinion of some good 
and honest-hearted men, that a system so completely satu- 
rated with error, will soon disgust the hearts of men ; yet 
it appears to us, that in proportion as error makes its pro- 
gress in exercising dominion over the heart; the will, un- 
derstanding and conscience are corrupted and perverted, 
therefore the dissipation of error is the more necessary. 
With this view of the subject, there is so much the more 
need of clear light, of sound argument, and a thorough ex- 
pose of the ruinous tendency of error. 

There are many unwary and vacillating persons, who 
require the right way to be clearly pointed out, and every 
system of error at every point clearly portrayed, in order 
to prevent them from dashing upon the rock of destruction, 
or wrecking their bark on the roaring breakers. Let there- 
fore Bible truth and heavenly principles stand out in their 



M01H K\ MVI KSU.iSM, &C. 1") 

native purity and attraetiveneiB, and appear in bold con- 
trast with error and licentiouaiess. This may pavea soul 
from death and hide a nultitade of sina. And, no doubt, 
many among the young nay bus be saved from the snare 

of the adroit Destroyer. The;e are unthinkingly exposed, 
and to throw around such the protection of truth, is a prom- 
inent design of the folloving ►ages. We hope, and pray 
to he guided into all truth ; to have whatever is dark, en- 
lightened ; and in whate^ser is abstruse to be favored with 
sound discretion and exact discrimination. 

What is the system of Modern Universalism ? In what 
does it consist, and what are ifa prominent features ? Is it 
Biblical, or Anti-Biblical ? These are important questions, 
and each prominent tenet of the creed of Universalists shall 
receive a distinct and decisive reply. The chief corner- 
stone upholding Universajsm, and on which the whole 
fabric rests, is expressed in) the following language : 

All men must necessarily be finally holy and happy. 

All their arguments and reasonings are designed to sub- 
stantiate, and render clear jhis proposition. If this point 
can be proven from the Bible ar.d illustrated as reasonable, 
then their end is gained, anil th.3 opposite doctrine falls to 
the ground. In order to thbroujhly examine and sift this 
subject we shall show that lie proposition is most evident- 
ly embraced by Universalists by quoting their own lan- 



guage, and also specify the 
this tenet. We might take 



race without the possibilit 
point and dulcet theme of 
show, that we wish to take 



eascning they adopt to sustain 
t for granted, that the doctrine 



of the final holiness and lapphess of the whole human 



' of a failure, is the skirling 
Jniversalism ; but in order to 
nothiig for granted, what may 



be proven, we "go to the lav and to the testimony." We 
shall only quote the language of such men as exercise the 
moulding hand of the denomination. 



16 MODERN UNIVERSAIISM, &C. 

The language of Abel C. Thomas, who is a conspicuous 
man among that fraternity, is, " The scriptures teach the 
doctrine of the final holinejs and happiness of all man- 
kind." As proof he states, ' that God is the Father of the 
whole human family, because he created them in his own 
image." "He is the only Creator, and he never created 



any soul of our race in an 
However vile the offspring 



other image than his own. 
of ai earthly father may be- 



come, they are still his children. The relation exists in- 
dependently of moral character, and can never be dissolv- 
ed." Therefore this relation must necessarily result in 
"the holiness and happiness of ali mankind. What other, 
what different consummation wjild perfectly consist with 
the spirit of God as the Unitersil Father." Hosea Ballou 
says, " All agree in the main print, viz. that universal ho- 
liness and happiness is the great object of the gospel plan." 
The acknowledgment of these ,wo men will be sufficient, 
especially, since the latter is deemed as the father of Uni- 
versalism as it now is. There is no pulpit of this sect but 
what has resounded with the cDmplacent declaration, that 
all men will eventually be holy and happy. The interro- 
gation may here be proposed, when and where shall this 
final result be consummated ? On this point there exists a 
dissimilarity of sentiment and f3eling among the denomina- 
tion. The Bible must not reveal this fact plainly as the 
final condition of the human nice, they themselves being 
judges. 

1. "Whether it shall take place in death, as soon as a sep- 
aration of the soul and body is effected, is a doubtful mat- 
ter to those wise interpreters of the Holy Scriptures. To 
us, it appears, that to maintain consistency is the promi- 
nent reason. Since their principal writers and speakers 
have erased from their creed the doctrine of the immortali- 
ty of the soul, pressed to do so by other anti-scriptural 



MODERN UNIVER8ALI8M, cV I . 17 

Views, ^nd have avowed the principles of materialism, and 

that the soul must rest in an unconscious sleep in the state 
intermediate death and the resurrection; how can they 
therefore decisively know, whether the unconscious soul 
shall be clothed with holiness and happiness at death I 
That some may state their views, avowing immediate hap- 
piness, is not denied ; but the reason is not, because it is a 
part of their creed or verily believed. The obvious reason 
is to avoid shocking the common sense notions of the com- 
munity generally, and not to expose their system to more 
ridicule than absolutely necessary to maintain their religi- 
ous integrity. A certain writer says, " We do not presume 
to know that men by shortening their days upon the earth 
will hasten their entrance into heaven. As it respects the 
hastening of an introduction into another life by the short- 
ening of the present, (i. e. suicide,) we would state distinct 
ly, that no particular speculation upon this point is any es- 
sential part of the Universalist system." After all, what a 
dreary and forlorn prospect does Universalism present to, 
its votaries while dying. It does not pretend to declare ; 
nay, it disavows any light or consolation to the man grap- 
pling with humanity's foe relative to his immediate subse- 
quent state. Perchance, an unconscious sleep awaits him, 
or thousands of years of misery and pain* 

1. But is the Bible so dark and undecided on this sub-» 
ject ? What scenes do the Scriptures disclose to our view 
on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elias 
conversed with Christ in reference to his sufferings and 
death ? Moses had been dead about fifteen hundred years, 
and Elijah had been translated to heaven about a thousand 
years prior, still there they were in conversation with the 
Savior in sight of three disciples, Was the soul of Moses 
in an unconscious sleep ? Is there any reason for " par- 
ticular speculation ?" Is it "any essential part' 1 of reli^i- 



18 MODERN UNIVERSALIS!*!, &C. 

ous truth ? Does the caviler say, for aught we know his 
body had been raised, therefore he enjoyed final holiness 
and happiness ? This is bare conjecture, unsupported by 
revelation, or history, therefore unworthy of any confidence. 
All the evidence we have declares that his body is still 
sleeping in the dust of the earth awaiting the resurrection 
of the dead at the close of the gospel dispensation. 

What says the Bible relative to the thief upon the cross ? 
" To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Paradise 
is undoubtedly the place of holiness and happiness in the 
immediate presence of God, and there he had a promise of 
being even that day. He did not enjoy it as yet ; but he 
should be made a happy partaker ere the setting sun should 
give place to the twilight evening. His body remained on 
Calvary, a lifeless and inactive lump of clay ; while the 
soul had sped its successful flight into the Paradise of su- 
pernatural glory and peace, by repentance towards God 
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Could the Bible be 
more luminous and decisive than it is on the separate con- 
scious existence of the soul, immediately subsequent to 
death ? 

Again : was the apostle Paul established and satisfied 
on this point or not ? What is his language in relation to 
his own conscious existence posterior to death and still 
prior to the resurrection ? " For I am in a strait betwixt 
two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ ; which 
is far better." Phil. i. 23. "Knowing that, whilst we 
are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord ; 
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent 
from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Cor. 
v. 6—8. Is not this language decisive ? No sooner is a 
separation effected between the soul and body, than the 
blood-washed spirit mounts to the upper skies and dwells 
with Christ in the place prepared at the Father's right hand. 



VODEKN UNIVERSALIS!!, &C. 19 

I i.. in all we have said, it appears that the doubts and 
perplexities of Universalista on the Btate and condition of 

the soul after death and before the resurrection, must origi- 
nate from another sourer than from the Bible. They are 

the natural fruit of the vain philosophy of their system, — 
and because the admission of a conscious intermediate ex- 
istence of the soul, would strike confusion and ruin into 
their system of faith, they have no desire that it should 
constitute a link in their creed. 

2. Does not Reason and the Philosophy of the mind 
•corroborate the Scriptures, that the spirit of man lives and 
consciously exists in the intermediate state ? What fol- 
lows but the sheer absurdity of the contrary view ? What 
evidences can we have of any mental exercises ; of think- 
ing . of feeling, of imagining, or of the circumstances with 
which we are surrounded ; but our consciousness of the 
fact ? How does a man know that he is the same being 
identically, that he was ten years ago ? By his conscious- 
ness. How does he know that he lived yesterday, wan- 
dered to and fro, performed this or that act, and that to-day 
he is the same identical being ? By that intuitive knowl- 
edge, called consciousness. Now if our consciousness can 
follow us from day to day, and from year to year, through 
the light of day and the darkness of the night, from one 
place to another, from one country to another, over sea and 
land, and never forsake us for one moment, what satisfac- 
tory reason ean we assign, that death is invested with the 
authority to strip us of this intuitive knowledge ? None 
at all. And as the soul is an uncompounded substance, 
purely spiritual, and can never be divided, therefore if con- 
sciousness is gone, we must cease to be — a mere nonen- 
tity — and therefore can have no subsequent existence. A 
new creation would constitute other beings ; but not those 
who have once been. On this ground modern Universalism 



20 MODERN UNIVERSALIS*!, &C. 

would be false, for none of the human race would ever at- 
tain final holiness and happiness ; but rather annihilation — 
unless it can be shown that final holiness and happiness, 
and annihilation are one and the same thing, which we pre- 
sume, no sane person will ever attempt to establish. 

We have, as we think, shown that the soul must neces- 
sarily enter upon its rewards at death, and that the doctrine 
is of sufficient importance to occupy a place in the system 
of divine Revelation ; notwithstanding it is too obscure to 
the understanding of Universalis ts to form any precise opin- 
ion upon it, or too insignificant to stand in the same cate- 
gory with the other articles of their faith. 

2. The greater part of Universalists adhere to the opin- 
ion, that the human race will necessarily be made partakers 
of final holiness and happiness in the resurrection. Cer- 
tain of their writers speak in this wise. A. C. Thomas 
says, "In the resurrection, universal humanity will walk 
forth in the beauty of holiness, redeemed and regenerated 
by the quickening spirit of the living God." Hosea Ballou 
declares, "That the resurrection power, which brought 
again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, will finally, in 
him, make the whole human family gloriously immortal and 
incorruptible." As we shall have occasion to go more fully 
into an examination of the resurrection in the proper place, 
since this doctrine is magnified into so much importance by 
Universalists as to supplant the necessity of repentance, 
faith and a holy life in order to secure heaven, we shall 
pass it by in this place after quoting a few passages of Scrip- 
ture. 

The Bible most evidently draws a distinction of charac- 
ter in those who shall be raised from the dead. " -Many 
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awakey 
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt." Dan. xii. 2. "Marvel not at this: fi>r the 



■ODEUM r.M\ r.usAi.isM, &€, 21 

hour is coming, in the which all thai are in the graves shall 
hear the voire of the Son of man, and come forth; they 
that have done good unto the resurrection of Kfe; and they 
that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." 
Johnv. 28,29. "Bu1 every man in his own order, Christ 
the first-fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his com- 
ing." 1 Cor. xv. 23. Now if these passages do not teach 
a moral distinction of character in the resurrection, then 
language is not a proper symbol to express such an idea. 
That they refer to the future state shall claim our attention 
more particularly hereafter. 

3. There are those who claim to belong to the category 
of Fniversalists, and believe in a future punishment, but 
limited in duration; however, they are equally certain that 
all mankind will eventually reap final holiness and happi- 
ness. This was the starting point of the system of Uni- 
versalism, as advocated by John [Murray, Chauncy, Hunt- 
ington, Winchester, and others, who were the first propa- 
gators of this error; but gradually a position has been as- 
sumed that gives a broad denial of all the vital doctrines of 
Revelation. We protest against the doctrine of Restora- 
tionism for the following reasons. 

1. This doctrine invests the pains of hell with a greater 
saving virtue than the blood of Christ. If future punish- 
ment can accomplish what the blood of Christ could not 
effect, then the pains of hell have more efficacy than the 
atonement of Christ and the Scripture must be untrue, that 
Christ is the only way to the Father. If hell is to the hu- 
man family a purgatory, through which all must pass in 
order to reach the Prfradise of God, then the blood of Christ 
is unavailing and worthless, and all the tragical scenes of 
Calvary, and the sufferings of Christ are nothing more than 
a melancholy farce and a bold imposition on the credulity 
of the world, unbecoming the truth and reproachful to God. 



22 MODERN UNIVERSALIS^, &C. 

Nothing then is adequate to restore fallen man to the image 
of his God but the pains and sorrows of the second death. 
If Restorationism be true then God is the Father of lies in 
procuring the provisions of grace and offering them as the 
only medium of salvation, when in fact they were never 
designed for this purpose nor suitable to it; but that hell 
should accomplish this desirable end ; which it might have 
accomplished just as well without the atonement of Christ. 
However shocking and blasphemous such results may ap- 
pear when dressed in their proper language, they are, never- 
theless, the legitimate offspring of a limited future punish- 
ment, as the chosen and heaven-appointed means, to restore 
the family of mankind to the enjoyment of final holiness 
and happiness. 

2. It awards the praises and hallelujahs of heaven for 
final and eternal salvation, to the flames of hell, and not to 
the Lord Jesus, as the Scriptures represent. Indeed, what 
will be the sweetest note in the song of the redeemed for 
salvation, on the ground of Restoration-salvation ; not 
glory to Christ who has saved us with his own precious 
blood; but glory, and honor, and power to the pains of 
hell, ye have purged us from sin while we paid the debt by 
drinking the cup of sorrow and torture. Worthy is hell 
to receive the praise; but the Lamb is unworthy. Does 
this accord with the tenor of the Bible, or is the Bible a 
cunningly devised fable, designed to delude the souls of 
men,? Admitting the divine inspiration and consequent au- 
thority of the Bible, we must believe the scripture when it 
says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed 
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain 
conversation received by tradition from your fathers ; but 
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without 
blemish and without spot." 1 Peter i. 18, 19. "And 
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the 



moi>i:k\ imvki:s\i,is)i, &< . 2:* 

book and open the seals thereof: for thou wast Blain and 
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kin- 
dred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made 

us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on 
the earth/' Rev. v. 9, 10. If all praise is ascribed to 
Christ for salvation on earth, how much sweeter and nobler 
shall the holy anthem swell and roll along the mountain of 
His holiness in the land of interminable delight? 

3. It destroys and spurns the covenant of mercy in all 
its provisions and its ultimate design. Did the Lord de- 
mand repentance of sins, and faith in Christ as terms of 
salvation ? If the purgatory of hell procures salvation for 
the human family, there is no intrinsic value in repentance 
and faith. Has the blood of Christ been appointed to 
cleanse from sin and enstamp holiness on the heart ? If 
the flames of hell burn out sin and restore to holiness and 
happiness, then there is no immediate use for the blood of 
Christ and it is not "precious." Has the covenant of 
grace promised a Mediator to plead the cause of poor sin- 
ners before the throne of God, to prolong life, to pardon for 
his own sake, and consider them the purchase of his blood ? 
If the damned in hell can pay the debt by suffering the 
penalty of a broken law, and magnify it, and claim heaven 
on the score of debt, then there is no need of an intercessor. 
Did God establish his kingdom of grace, and the mediatorial 
reign of Christ on the earth as the limit of human salva- 
tion, and called it the acceptable time ? If Restorationism 
be true, then God has been mistaken in his counsels, for 
after ages of penal sufferings in the future world, heaven 
may be gained and endless happiness may be secured. 

4. It can not show how long the damned will suffer, 
whether thousands, or millions of years, or so many days, 
therefore it can not measure the desert of sin ; which sin is 
the most criminal ; and who is the greatest sinner ; and 



24 MODERN UNIVERSALISM, &C. 

whether the human race shall suffer more or less than di- 
vine justice demands. 

All this system pretends to elucidate, is, that the suffer- 
ings of the damned will at some time terminate. The du- 
ration of despair and punishment will be indefinite, and for 
aught that Restorationism knows to the contrary millions 
of ages will be the measurement of future woe. How 
great the criminality of sin is and how much punishment 
for each sin Justice demands, cannot be found out in the 
arithmetic of this system. As human demerit can not be 
computed, so neither does it form any proper conception 
of the extent of human responsibility. It leaves truth, 
justice, sin and punishment at loose ends. 

Having thus stated briefly the dissimilarity of the opin- 
ions of those who adhere to the faith, that finally the whole 
human family will necessarily be constituted holy and hap- 
py, we wish now to investigate some of the arguments ad- 
duced in favor of this proposition, and shall endeavor to 
disprove it, and show that the Bible deprecates a system so 
much at war with its own principles and with sound reason. 

WHAT IS HOLINESS ! 

It may be very important to have some definite idea of 
what holiness is, in order to comprehend the subject as 
wise men, and not as fools. Holiness in God is absolute 
and unoriginated, and it consists in that specific nature of 
God, which causes him involuntarily to hate sin and injus- 
tice, and approve of whatever is right. Therefore God 
loves purity, innocence and uprightness, while whatever is 
at war with his law and character, is an abomination in his 
sight. 

In whatever degree the powers of the soul were original- 
ly pure and free from all moral imperfections : yet all ac- 
ceptable holiness in man must necessarily be derived from 



Monr.RN mm i MULISH, i^< . M 

and exemplified by, a course q£ conduct m conformity to 
the will of the Supremo God. When thus manifefcjpd, tt 

forms the basis of every good and moral character. All 

mental and physical powers are derived from the Creator, 
while their correct exercise is left to the control of each in- 
dividual, therefore the formation of character, whether good 
or had, is the production of each voluntary agent, for which 
he is held strictly responsible at the bar of God. Whoev- 
er lives according to the principles of justice and eternal 
truth will secure for himself, internal and external holiness ; 
and whatever is right will be esteemed and complied with, 
because it is right, and all wrong will be detested, whether 
in theory or practice, because it is in conflict with the will 
of God. A heart thus moulded and a character formed on 
such a principle, will be after the image of the Creator, and 
ensure present and future happiness. However much we 
are aided by the grace of God in the formation of this char- 
acter, in view of our sinful and fallen state, and though w r e 
are wholly dependent on grace for justification; yet the 
grace of Christ will not contravene our definition of human 
holiness. 

The question might here be presented, if any can and do 
secure the holiness requisite to entet heaven, why will not 
all do % *so, and thus all mankind be saved? We verily be- 
lieve that adequate provisions are made for all, and that all 
may come and have life ; yet the human race are not, there- 
fore, necessarily saved, made holy and prepared for heaven. 
There may be a suitable antidote for a certain disease which 
when correctly used accomplishes a speedy cure, yet all 
who are afflicted with the identical disease are not neces- 
sarily healed, though the remedy is within their reach, 
whether applied or not. The question of the final holiness 
and happiness of the human race, will not depend mainly 
on the grace of God, available to all by repentance and 



20 MODERN UNIVERSALISM, &C. 

faith ; but whether this must be the case without the possi- 
bility of a failure, because God has decreed and determined 
it should be the case without respect to circumstances, con- 
ditions, or character. We say no ; while the advocates of 
the unconditional and certain holiness of all mankind reply 
in the affirmative. What argument do they advance to 
prove this point? 

1. The Paternity of God as the Creator of the human 
family. This has been the theme of many a sermon, and 
essay, and the burden of the most earnest appeals to awa- 
ken sensibility in the bosom of man. Wherever the sound 
of Universalism has been heard, this has been the loudest 
and sweetest note. And many have reasoned from man to 
God, and have attached the same feelings to the heart of 
the Lord, which they have found in their own hearts, there- 
fore they have concluded that he was like themselves. 
And because they have no pleasure in destroying their fel- 
lows, but prefer to elevate them to purity and happiness, 
therefore the Lord will not destroy his creatures, but will 
render them holy and happy. Thus their feelings sup- 
plant the place of the Bible, and decide peremptorily what 
God will do in the face of all he has already done to the 
contrary. He has destroyed the world once ; also nations, 
and people, and he may do it again, although human feel- 
ings stand opposed. Whatever He has done at one time, 
He may do again under like circumstances. And whatev- 
er is consistent .with his spirit and character in time past, 
will be consonant with his will in the future, provided the 
conduct of his creatures falls under the administration of 
his righteous government. Therefore the paternity of God 
will not necessarily procure the final holiness and happi- 
ness of all mankind. But more to the point. This ques- 
tion has been stated and reasoned thus : 



MODERN UNIVERSALIS!!, &C. 27 

1. M Tha1 God is the Father of tin 4 whole human fami- 
ly, because he has created them in his own image/] 

2, "That this relation exists independent of moral char- 
acter, and can never be dissolved." 

'.h "Therefore God will always be the Father of the 
whole human family." • 

We do not discover what particular bearing the above 
reasoning can have on the doctrine of the necessary holi- 
ness and salvation of the human race, unless a necessary 
connection can be shown to exist between the relation of 
God, as the Father of all mankind in the sense of Creator, 
and the certain holiness of all his creatures. It is not ne- 
cessary to prove, that God is our Father, because he crea- 
ted us in his image, and that God will continue to sustain 
that relation irrespective of human character, therefore he 
will always be our Father in the same sense that he is our 
Creator, unless we design to infer the necessary holiness 
and happiness of all mankind because God sustains this re- 
lation to all his creatares. It yet remains to be proven, 
that the holiness and happiness of the human race, are an 
unavoidable result from the fact that God has created us in 
his own image. 

In what particular sense is God the Father of our race, 
that communicates this saving virtue to the relation exist- 
ing between God and man, as Creator and creature, 
which will secure their necessary salvation ? It cannot be, 
because he is our Creator merely, for he has created beasts, 
and birds, and replies, and it is not contended, that this 
will secure their holiness and final happiness. All the vir- 
tue and glory of this relation is centered in the fact, that 
God created man in his own image. Nothing else was 
created in the image of God. If the image of God in man 
will ultimately and necessarily procure the final holiness of 
our race, then the argument would stand thus : 



28 MODERN UNIVERSALIS!*!, &C. 

That God created man in his own image and likeness, 
which constitutes him our Father in a higher sense than he 
is the Father of all other created objects. 

And since the image of God in which man was created 
is indestructible, and consequently this relation will always 
exist. '• • ■ 

Therefore, no " other consummation consists with the 
spirit of God as the Universal Father," than the holiness 
of all. 

We wish to state the argument fairly and give it all the 
force it can claim, and then to bring the truth into close 
conflict, that the triumph may be more manifest. 

In the further examination of this subject, we shall no- 
tice, the image of God in which man was created — then 
whether this image can afford the necessary virtue" to the 
relation existing between God as the Father, in the sense 
of Creator, (we are thus specific, because God is our Fa- 
ther in a different sense from that in which he is our Cre- 
ator, in relation to the holiness and happiness of believers,) 
and mankind as his creatures, so as to secure finally the 
holiness of all rational intelligences — -and whether this rela- c 
tion consisting irrespective of character can secure the re- 
alization of the doctrine we are combating. 

IMAGE OF GOD IN WHICH MAN WAS CREATED. 

Man was created in the image of God, after his like- 
ness, — -he most resembles God of all created things. It 
cannot consist in his corporeal nature, for if bodily form be 
predicated of God, then the existence of Detiy is bounded 
by geometrical limits. ■ This is perfectly absurd, for the 
Infinity and Omnipotence of God, essential attributes to his 
divine existence, would be destroyed. Nor does the image 
of God in man, consist in the sceptre of dominion granted 
him at his creation by his Creator, for after he had been 



MODERN (JNIVER8AL1SM, &C. 2\) 

formed, and was made a living soul, this dominion was en- 
trusted to him, not as an essential clement to constitute 
him a man ; but to elevate him as an accountable being 

and as lord of this lower world, only subordinate to (Sod. 
His creation was a work quite distinct from the act which 
conferred upon him such crowning authority. Therefore 
the image of God in man must lie in his soul and spiritual 
nature. 

1. In spirituality. Image means likeness — one thing 
resembling another. The son is like his father, or the 
daughter the image of the mother. The soul of man has 
the image of God enstamped by His plastic hand, for they 
both possess spirituality. God is a Spirit, incorporeal, in- 
visible, and incorruptible — without parts or dimensions — 
from all eternity the same, and pervading the universe with 
his presence. He is emphatically spiritual — " God is a 
Spirit ;" John iv. 24 ; and He created man a spiritual be- 
ing, 'J the spirit shall return to God who gave it ;" Eccl. ii. 
7 ; therefore since both are spiritual, God and the soul of 
man ; in this we discover a similarity and the image of the 
Creator. 

2. In essential life. The existence of God is underived ; 
but man began to be. He is unoriginated, self-existent, and 
an immortal being, " without beginning of days, or end of 
years," therefore a "living God;" but man was created 
and is dependent, yet his soul is a living subsistence, life is 
inseparably connected and is one of its distinguishing attri- 
butes. To take life from the soul, is to reduce it into non- 
entity. We can form no conception of the soul without 
blending essential life with the very idea of its existence. 
The 'body of itself is motionless, inactive, and lifeless; 
while the soul is always full of activity and enjoys life un- 
Ulerived in the sense and manner that the body derives life ; 
and it can not die in the sense of ceasing to be, for it has 



30 MODERN UNIVERSAL1SM, &C 

the element of life in itself as an essential feature in its very 
structure, consequently it is a living subsistence and im- 
mortal. God is a living being and immortal ; so is the 
soul of man, therefore herein is the likeness of God reflected. 

3. In all the faculties of the soul. Man has an under- 
standing by which he discerns things and relations, and a 
judgment by which he reasons and draws conclusions, and 
a will by which he determines and decides on doing or 
leaving undone, and a moral sense acquiescing in the right 
and detesting whatever is wrong. We presume, that none 
will deny that the mind of Jehovah is possessed of wisdom, 
judgment, will and holiness, by which he knows, reasons, 
and determines righteousness and uprightness. As we find 
an impress of the mind of God in the mind of man, there- 
fore his intellectual powers remind him of his great Origi- 
nal, and from each power of mind, distinct or combined, 
we may see the image of God more or less completely re- 
flected. 

4> In the tendencies, passions or inclinations of the mind. 
The Almighty has no communion with evil, and no incli- 
nation to sin, therefore He has no passion of mind to de- 
light in wickedness ; but every tendency of His mind is 
toward right, holiness and truth. Man was made in the 
image of God, therefore he had no bias to sin and folly ; 
but every tendency and passion of his mind was strictly 
adapted to goodness and justice, right and truth. The 
mind was constituted to derive supreme delight in the con- 
templation of God and his works. Every tendency and 
bias of mind giving rise to affection and action were com- 
pletely and wholly inclined to good by the wise design of 
God. Nothing but an act of the will could pervert the 
passions, tendencies and inclinations of the mind to evil and 
sin. Here then we may discern the image of God cast 
over the entire surface of the soul of man, in the adaptation 



MMXN ( NINTH- \I.1>M, i 31 

of the mind to whatever LB lovely, good and honest in the 
Qf God. 

All this is the natural image of God in which man was 
created, and which constituted him a living soul, qualified 
and adapted to move in conformity with the will of his 
Creator. Notwithstanding that God created man with this 
wrv nature and image, yet this crowning glory impressed 
on man cannot secure necessarily holiness and happiness, 
for holiness consists in a moral character conformed to the 
will, or law of the Most High, and happiness is its legiti- 
mate result. But what moral character is there in the na- 
tural image of God in which man was created ? Character 
is made up of the course of human actions, and it is either 
moral or immoral as it accords or is repugnant to the will 
of God. A man may be a spiritual being, yet this fact 
will neither make him a £ood or a bad man. He may pos- 
sess essential life in his soul, yet it gives no character. He 
may possess a judgment, will, understanding and moral 
sense, yet this fact will give no character ; but their exer- 
cise will, either good or bad, depending on the manner he 
shall cultivate and employ the powers of mind, in doing good 
or evil. His bias or inclination of heart may be pure and 
good and will result in what heaven approves, if rightly 
controlled. If therefore the relation which the Lord sus- 
tains to all his rational creatures, growing out of the fact, 
that He created them in his own image, did not, and does 
not communicate morality and holiness, how shall this pat- 
ernal relation even effect the final holiness and happiness 
of the human race I To suppose this, is absurd, for it 
would be an effect without a corresponding cause. 

Now we readily acknowledge that the natural image of 
God in man is permanent, and that in this respect the Cre- 
ator will ever sustain the same relation to man ; but we do 
not believe that it will ever exercise any influence directly 
2 



32 MODERN UNIVERSALIS*!, &C. 

over the characters of men, or effect, in the least, the future 
destiny of the human race. 

As the natural image can have no influence on the future 
destiny of intelligent creatures, being without character, and 
only designed as the means to work out a character, ivhen 
employed and exercised, therefore its retention can never 
secure, of itself, future holiness to any of the human race. 
This image man never lost by the fall, or by transgression. 
We recollect of no instance, recorded in the Bible, where 
it is declared, that sin has effaced the image in which man 
was created. Though such expressions are used in popu- 
lar speaking, and may be allowable for certain reasons ; yet 
philosophically and metaphysically it is not true. In popu- 
lar teaching, the loss of the moral image of God, and hu- 
man depravity is the only import of the declaration, that 
man has lost the image of God. But when we speak of 
the divine image in man in a close and metaphysical sense, 
we should make a clear distinction between the natural and 
moral image ; the former in which man was created, and 
which he still retains, and the latter, the product of the na- 
tural image when exercised, which is effaced by sin. 

The natural image is as permanent in man as his being, 
when he loses this, he shall cease to be, or sink into anni- 
hilation. So long as man continues capable of knowledge 
and free agency, he must retain this image. This is also 
evident from Scripture. The law declaring vengeance on 
the destroyer of a man's life, goes to establish this point. 
The criminality of the act of murder, and the inviolability 
of human life, depends on the crowning truth, that man was 
created in the image of his God. " Whosoever sheddeth 
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the 
image of God made he him." Gen. ix. 6. This declara. 
tion was made after the fall of man, yet the sacredness of 
human life depends on the image of God in man, therefore 



MODKRN l.MVl'KSAMSM, &C. 33 

lie must, still retain it. "Man is the image and glory of 
God." 1 Cor. xi. 7. This cannot refer to any moral 
purity, for that man has lost; but, that man still possesses 
the natural image of God, which reflects the brightness and 
glory of God more than all other created things. " Men, 
which are made after the similitude of God." James iii. 9. 
All these passages teach that man still retains the image of 
God, therefore we conclude that the natural image of God 
is permanent in man. 

This natural image of God is the foundation of his moral. 
There was a time antecedent to our first parents' having a 
moral character, when they were rational beings only. The 
rational part of man, the soul, the intellect, the man him- 
self, is the foundation of all moral actions. The use of the 
rational in man, gives and creates character. When man 
obeys God, he acquires a good moral character, and reflects 
the holy, praiseworthy, and moral image of God. Were 
it not that man is a spiritual being with an understanding 
mind, and capable of free-agency and of choice, he could 
not be either a holy, or an unholy being, happy or miser- 
able. Without voluntary action, man cannot with any more 
justice and propriety be called a holy or an unholy being, 
than the stone of the field or the clod of the valley. The 
will of God is the standard of holiness, and man's volun- 
tary obedience or disobedience constitutes either his holi- 
ness or unholiness, as the case may be. Therefore we 
conclude that the natural image is the foundation of the 
moral, as a letter is formed by the type, for so soon as 
Adam in the garden of Paradise, had received the natural 
image and became a living soul, he began to live and act, 
forming that moral image, which constituted him righteous 
and holy; and so long as he lived in conformity to the will 
of his Maker, he retained and enjoyed a holy character; 
but no sooner did he disobey, than he blotted out the moral 



31 MODERN UXIVERSALLSM, &C. 

image, destroyed his righteous character and with it his feli- 
city. Therefore regeneration implies to be created anew 
in righteousness and true holiness. As sin raised its ham- 
mer and smote the moral mirror of God in man, leaving 
nothing but the framework, so grace must restore the beauty 
of holiness to the heart. 

When man lost his moral image by sin, he merged into 
the dark abyss of corruption and woe ; he became like a 
lonely mariner on a tempestuous sea, driven at the mercy 
of the infuriated storm. His actions are all supremely sel- 
fish, and maliciously opposed to God. The idol self con- 
trols the whole man ; his judgment decides amiss, and all 
the intellectual powers move in a wrong direction, though 
they remained undestroyed by depravity. The mainspring 
of all this perversion lies away back of a corrupted will. 
The man lives and acts but in opposition to the law of God 
and to the chief end of his being, therefore he is unholy, 
miserable and obnoxious to divine displeasure. 

Had man retained his moral image as well as his natural, 
he would still possess holiness and unmingled felicity, for 
in his primitive state, there was not a breeze to ruffle his 
calm and serene bosom. He could recline his head on 
nature's lap and no horrid dreams played fantastically be- 
fore his vision— no fearful forebodings beclouded his future 
prospect of bliss — no angry thunders muttered in accents 
of sullen wrath, and darted gleaming fires across his path — 
no swelling flood dashed against his peaceful habitation — 
no rude blast nipped the evergreen of life or scattered in 
ruin the sweets of human existence — no surreptitious hand 
of injustice and disabolic wrong seized and brake the glit- 
tering crown of manhood, and rent into fragments the equal 
and mutual obligations of human society. 

We have been precise and extended in the discussion of 
this subject, in consequence of its important bearing on the 



modi.kn DMn VRSALISM, tu . M 

question at issue. To sum up our conclusions) the matter 
will Btand thus : 

That God created all mankind in bis natural image, and 
is the Father of all in the sense of Creator, 

And that this image is the essential being of every ration- 
al intelligence, and can never be lost except by the annihi- 
lation of the soul; and as this image has no moral eharae- 
ter, being only the foundation of the moral image, which 
alone possesses character; and as God must retain the re- 
lation as Father in the sense of Creator as long as the na- 
tural image endures ; and as this relation can have no moral 
character because the natural image has none, and as it is 
acknowledged "to exist independent of moral character." 
Therefore this relation can never necessarily result in the 
final holiness and happiness of the human family, for the 
very obvious reason, that the holiness and consequent hap- 
piness of any creature consist in and are an exhibition of 
moral character, and therefore can never be the product of 
a cause, or relation void of moral character. In the act of 
creation God cannot be the Father of any thing in a higher 
sense than of all created objects, except as one creature 
possesses more intrinsic good than another in the position 
and scale of the works of nature ; provided this does render 
the paternal relation more valuable and glorious. This we 
do not pretend to decide. But one thing is certain, that this 
relation cannot be moral in a given case, and be void of ho- 
liness in all other instances. If it were holy in the crea- 
tion of man, it would be so down the scale of creation to 
the smallest animalcule that float in the sunbeam. But we 
have shown that whatever relation God may sustain to the 
works of his hand from the fact of their creation, this can- 
not involve moral character, for that must be the result of 
his moral government, and in order for his creatures to se- 
cure holiness and happiness in this life or in the world to 



36 MODERN UNIVERSALIS. &C. 

come, they must obey and carry out the claims which God 
imposed upon them as their Sovereign. Therefore it is 
undeniable, that if God is the Father of all, because He 
created them in His image, then He is the Father, in the 
same sense, of all the other works of His hands, though he 
crowned man with more glory and honor, than all other 
created objects. The same moral character adheres to the 
relations He sustains to all things created, and if it results 
necessarily in the holiness of any creature, it will to all ; if 
not to any, it will to none, and will have no influence on 
the future destiny of the human race in making them holy 
and happy. 

WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED ? 

All who are the children of God, not by creation, but by 
adoption. In losing the moral image of God, we lost ho- 
liness, righteousness and pure felicity, and in character be- 
came aliens to God, children of disobedience and wrath. 
We forfeited all claim to holiness, the inheritance of heaven, 
the harp, the crown, and glory. In order to secure holi- 
ness and happiness, we must be created anew in righteous- 
ness and true holiness, receive the spirit of Christ, and be 
adopted into his family. God will then become our Father 
in grace, in addition to the fact that He is so by creation, 
which relation will secure to all believers final holiness and 
happiness; "for by grace are ye saved, through faith." 
Eph. ii. 8. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 26. This is the way to become 
the adopted children of God, and God has no children, who 
shall be heirs of salvation, of holiness and happiness, but 
such as are adopted into his family by grace. "And if 
children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ; if so be that we. sufFer with him, that we may be 
also glorified together," Rom, viii, 17, 



modkrn rMvr.nsALi.sM, tu . 37 

In the above sense, all are not tin 1 children of God, and 
BOQe are hut those who are adopted. Let us quote a few 
more passages to sustain this position. kk But as many as 
reeeived him, to them gave he power to become the sous of 
God, even to them that believed on his name." John i. 12. 
Here the "sons of God" are mentioned as having obtained 

this character, and all the privileges growing out of this re- 
lation to God as their Father, by receiving Christ in the 
sense of believing on his name. This is the way they be- 
came the sons of God. Now, it does not require great 
mental discernment, to understand, that if faith in Christ is 
the condition of sonship with God, then all unbelievers can- 
not be the children of God, and if not the children of God, 
then they will be disinherited of holiness and future happi- 
ness. 

" But as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the 
sons of God." Rom. viii. 14. Who are the sons of God 
according to this testimony ? All those and only such as 
are led by the Spirit of God. As many as are not subject 
to the law of God, and this then cannot be while governed 
by a carnal heart, cannot be the sons of God by adoption, 
and must fail of heaven or of a title to heaven while void 
of the Spirit of Christ. 

" But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth 
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem 
them that were under the law, that we might receive the 
adoption of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5. If all are the sons of 
God by creation, and by virtue of that relation are entitled 
to become finally holy and happy ; then what need of the 
Savior entering into this world, " made of a woman, made 
under the law." But if God's rational creatures can only 
secure heaven by being " redeemed from under the law and 
by receiving the adoption of sons," then the entrance of 
Christ into the world is magnified into significant value 



38 MODERN DNIVSB8ALItM| ^V< . 

and shown to be of indispensable importance. And if only 

those who are redeemed and receive the adoption of sons, 
are the children of God in that sense which shall effect ho- 
liness and end in unmingled felicity, then all others are 
not the children of God. How many do we see who are 
still under the law, in condemnation and servants of sin, 
consequently all are not the sons of God by adoption. 

44 In this the children of God are manifested and the chil- 
dren of the devil : whosoever doeth not righteousness, is 
not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." 1 Joh. 
iii. 10. If all are the children of God, who then are the 
children of the devil ? Are God and the devil one and the 
same, or do they claim the human family as common stock ? 
If not, then those who are the children of God, are distinct 
from those who are the children of the devil. If God is 
our Father because he created us, then God is also our Father 
in a different sense ; in which sense all are not the chil- 
dren of God, for some are the children of the devil. This 
latter relation, formed by grace and adoption, secures to 
all its subjects holiness and happiness. Righteousness 
which restores the moral image of God to the soul, mani- 
fests who are the sons of God. He who fails to do right- 
eousness and to love his brother is a child of the devil. 
Now, how many in the world do not righteousness, but 
rather wickedness and folly, and instead of love, they har- 
bor enmity in the heart ; all these cannot be the sons of 
God in a gospel sense, and have no claim to holiness and 
happiness. 

44 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou 
child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt 
thou not cease to pervert the right w T ays of the Lord ?" 
Acts xiii. 10. Elymas, the sorcerer, is called the child of 
the devil, because he hated righteousness, and perverted 
the right ways of the Lord, therefore he could not be the 



m<h>»:k\ i \i\ IR1ALI8M, vV l 89 

child of God. Neither creation dot grace gave him that 
relation which secures holiness, for adoption into the fam- 
ily of Cod must be acquired by grace through faith, 
which he had never sought for, and which alone can enti- 
tle to the immunities of the gospel, tin* moral image of God 

and heaven. 

M Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your 

father ye will do." Joh. viii. 44. [f the Jews hud the 
devil for their father, then they could not be the children of 
God, nor have any prospect, while retaining this character, 
of ever reaching a heaven of holiness. Yea, even the fact 
thai they were created in the image of God, could not pre- 
vent them from becoming the apostate children of the devil, 
how can it then ever necessarily make the human race 
finally holy and happy ? It must be wisdom above what 
is written, and there can be "no light in them." 

In this 8th chapter the Jews claimed to be the children 
of Abraham ; Christ admitted that they were the natural 
descendants of Abraham, but not his spiritual seed, for if 
they were, they would delight to do his works. Driven 
rom this point, they then exclaimed, " we have one Fa- 
ther, even God." Christ declared that they could not be 
the children of God, and hate him, for he came forth from 
God ; but by their works they manifested, that they were 
of their father the devil. 

What we have quoted from the Bible must unequivocal- 
ly, decide that all mankind are not the children of God in 
a gospel sense, which constitutes the only saving relation ; 
and that I T ni\ ersalism must be false, which predicates the 
final holiness and happiness of all our race, because God 
is the Father of all, inasmuch as he created all in his own 
ima^e. We see 1 Christ and the Universalists in the arena 
of moral combat ; while the latter declare all will be saved 
because God is the Father of all ; and Christ authoritative- 



40 HABBSM T'MVKKSALI^M, &C 

ly teaches th.it all are not the children of God, because the 
Jews and many others hate him, do not the works of God, 
do not righteousness, and do not love their brother. We 
ask the reader to pass a candid judgment, which is right 
and worthy to be believed. 

It may be said, by the advocates of Universalism, that 
they acknowledge all are not yet the children of God, but 
that they will finally become so, and therefore be ultimate- 
ly saved and enjoy heaven. We reply, that this admission 
destroys all the necessary connection between the relation, 
that God is the Father of all, because he created them in 
his own image, and the final holiness and happiness of the 
human race ; for the very obvious reason, that if some are 
not the children of God now, there is no absolute necessity 
in the relation to make all the children of God, and if it 
fails from inadequacy or imbecility to any, it may to all ; 
and if it fails now, it may hereafter, and to all eternity. 

Now, we think we have sufficiently shown the absurdi- 
ty of the position, and have demolished every fortification 
of the argument drawn from the paternity of God to prove 
the ultimate holiness and salvation of our race. At any 
rate we submit the subject to the judgment of the reader. 

WHAT WILL BECOME OF IDIOTS AND INFANTS ? 

As we have shown, that in order to be entitled to holi- 
ness and its legitimate peace here or hereafter, it is re- 
quisite to believe in Christ, be saved by grace, and be adopt- 
ed into the family of God ; it will be proper to indulge in 
some remarks relative to the ultimate state of idiots and in- 
fants, as this is considered a difficulty irreconcilable, by our 
opponents, with our views of the plan of salvation. We 
believe that all such will be saved and be clothed upon from 
heaven, a place suitable to the development and enlarge- 



Mom.KN r\i\ RR9ALISM, &C, 11 

ment of the powen of mind ; and our reasons lor the faith 

wt entertain, ere simply the following : 

l. It is an unalterable law of God incorporated in his 
divine government, that accountability is only commensu- 
rate with human ability. The Most High claims nothing 

more than what man is competent to do ; and as idiots and 
infants are disqualified, by mental imbecility and necessary 
ignorance, to exercise repentance and faith in Christ, the un- 
alterable conditions of the covenant of mercy, therefore Gdd 
dots not require them to repent and believe. Should he 
make this demand, it would be unjust and manifestly con- 
travene one of the leading principles of his government. 
After all, how can they reach heaven? The duty of re- 
pentance and faith as conditions of the gospel covenant, are 
requisite to secure grace to save from sin, and ultimately 
i glory and God ; but idiots and children have no sin, 
for sin is a voluntary breach of the law, and where no law 
is, there can be no sin, and as God has not imposed upon 
them his law, because their ability is not commensurate to 
an observance of the law ; therefore they are entitled to 
heaven, and there is no difficulty in the way — sin, which 
is the only insurmountable obstacle to God's accountable 
creatures, has never been committed by them. 

2. The gospel covenant with its conditions is addressed 
to rational and accountable creatures only, and as idiots and 
infants belong not to this class, therefore it is not addressed 
to them.. 

3. The gospel is proclaimed to accountable beings, while 
in their sins and morally unfit for heaven, in order to re- 
new and sanctify their souls for glory ; idiots and infants 
are free from sin and are fit for heaven, therefore the gos- 
pel is not published to them in the same sense, that it is to 
others. Infants are emphatically declared proper subjects 
for heaven bv the great Teacher. "Verily I say unto you, 



42 MODERN UNIVERSALls.M. fa . 

except ve be converted, and become as little children, ye 
shall not enter into the kingdom of God." Matt, xviii. 3. 
Little children are fit for the kingdom of God, therefore ac- 
countable beings must be converted and become as chil- 
dren — attain this same position and relation to God, before 
they can be saved. Therefore we conclude that children 
and idiots are saved, or brought to God by Christ neces- 
sarily, in view of what he has done for the world, and in 
view of their relation to the kingdom of God. 

The multitude of children who die in their infancy, and 
all idiots, together with all those who have believed in 
Christ in such a sense as to receive the adoption of sons, 
shall constitute the family of heaven, bask forever in the 
sunbeams of immaculate glory, and sing the new song, in 
every note ascribing all praise and power unto the lamb 
who was slain to redeem them from the earth. " God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes : and there shall 
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain : for the former things are passed 
away." Rev. xxi. 4. " But the fearful, and unbelieving, 
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, 
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their 
part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone : 
which is the second death." Rev. xxi. 8. These shall 
drink the cup of fury, because they loved the wages of sin, 
worked unrighteousness, disbelieved the record God gave 
of his Son, trusted in the arm of flesh, filled up the meas- 
ure of their iniquities, and rejected the spirit, grace, and 
adoption of sons. Who can behold the contrast, and not 
sue for mercy, and pray with the publican, " God be mer- 
ciful to me a sinner ?" Reader, go to Christ and comply 
with the holy requisition, " My son, give me thy heart." 



C II A P T E R II. 

m van DEPRAVITY. 

" Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as 
thyself; but I will reprove thee" Psalm I. 21. 

When men become profligate either in sentiment or in 
practice, they change the true character of Jehovah into a 
god of imagination suitable and corresponding with their 
corrupt cogitations. They either make unto themselves 
idols of wood or sculptured stone, and pay their homage 
unto them ; or else the god they delight to serve has a na- 
ture like theirs, approving lewdness and wickedness. This 
was the case with those who lived in the days of the 
Psalmist. They hated instruction, and deprecated God; 
they gave their countenance to theft and robbery, and were 
accomplices of adulterers ; they devoted their speech to evil 
and their tongue to framing deceitful things ; they maligned 
their kindred and slandered their own mother's son ; yet 
they imagined that all these things were consonant with the 
will of God. They thought that God loved whatever they 
delighted in. To imagine ourselves as good comparatively 
as God, and that He made us what we are, is invariably 
the down-hill road to delusion and error. 

That Universalism should mangle and make awful in- 
roads upon the scripture-sanctioned doctrine of human de- 
pravity, is what might be naturally expected from the broad 
position, that all men must necessarily be finally holy and 
happy. Whatever doctrines stand in bold opposition to 



H HI MAN DEPRAVITY. 

their idolized tenet, must either be tortured and wi 
from their true import, or else be entirely exploded. There- 
fore the Bible-taught doctrine of human depravity has not 
escaped the pruning knife of those innovators, for they 
teach the world openly, that innate depravity is a figment 
of scholastic divines and not of the Bible. Universalists 
believe — 

That all men are born as free from depravity noic, as 
Adam was ivhen he came from the hands of his Creator. 

Mr. Ballou, the father of Universalism as it now is, 
treats the account of the garden of Eden, man's temptation 
and subsequent fall, as so perfectly fabulous or figurative as 
of little or no consequence. And as there is no direct evi- 
dence, except the Bible, that there was a literal garden, a 
literal tree of life, and a literal tree of knowledge of good 
and evil, he repudiates the common exposition of this scrip- 
ture altogether. His language is — " Should it be said, that 
this garden was a literal garden, that the tree of life was a 
literal tree, and that the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil was also literal; I should be glad to be informed, what 
evidence can be adduced in support of such an idea." In 
this summary manner, this sapient expounder of God's 
word explodes the commonly received notions of Paradise 
and the scenes that transpired in it. 

Another preacher of Universalism, rejects the literal 
den of Paradise, and the tree of life, &c, because there is 
no proof of its present existence, or even the place where 
it once should have been. Therefore, he says, the garden 
is humanity; the tree of life is the good principle in man; 
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the evil prin- 
ciple in man ; the sword to guard the tree of life is the law 
of God. This is profound wisdom, and doubtless, God 
must pour out his Spirit on such without measure ! Here 
we have the doctrine; a denial of native depravity, and 



in m \n imi'i; w n v. 45 

that man is just what God made him. Man has a good 
principle and an evil principle abiding in him, which arc 

symbolized by the trees of the garden* the one of life, and 

the other of the knowledge of good and evil; hut the sword 

of the angel guarded the tree of life to prevent man from 

eating Of its fruit, leal he should eat and live forever: was 

man therefore kept by the law of (rod from having any ac- 
ta the good principle dwelling in his humanity I This 
must be the case, if this modern innovator is a correct ex- 
pounder of die oracles of God. What consummate folly; 
the height of absurdity ! 

Mr. Ballou remarks, that " these conflicting laws of flesh 
and spirit have always existed in man from his first forma- 
tion, and bo long as they continue to exert their powers in 
opposition to each other, so long will sin remain, and con- 
tinue to produce condemnation." Query : For aught we 
know they will he in opposition forever, if good and evil 
are changeless realities, will therefore condemnation and 
misery not continue forever? 

"In our opinion," says the "Universalist Expositor,"- 
"every man, from the first to the last, comes into the world 
under moral circumstances precisely the same. We are 
ushered into being in the state of perfect innocency, with 
no guilt, or vice whatsoever; and from all that we ean learn, 
this w r as the condition of the parents of our race, w r hen they 
came from the forming hand of their Creator." 

O. A. Skinner says, "We have the same natural and 
moral constitution which he had; [Adam] and consequent- 
ly, the common opinion about the fa/1 is altogether imag- 
inary." kt Adam had the same appetites and passions, the 
same propensities to sin, that his posterity have." Accord- 
ing to this all are born alike, as pure now as Adam was 
when he came from the hands of his God — Adam was 
created with the same propensities to sin, that the children 



46 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

of men now have. The representations of the New T 
tament, of the old man to be crucified, and the corrupt 
members to be mortified are false. The immutable law of 
nature that like begets like, is unsound, unless it can be 
shown, that the Holy God is as depraved as man. Is this 
sound theology or infidelity? 

The same writer says, "We believe, that man is by na- 
ture, i. e. as he is born into the world, equally free from 
sin and destitute of holiness, no more inclined to vice than 
to virtue, and equally capable, in the ordinary use of his 
faculties, and the common assistance afforded him of either " 
What a strange position man holds in the moral government 
of God, as much inclined to vice as to virtue, and perfectly 
destitute of either, and is just as able to choose and prac- 
tise virtue as vice. Though the latter language is contra- 
dictory of what the same writer had said before, when he 
declared that men were born with propensities to sin, for 
men cannot have propensities equally strong to two objects 
diametrically opposed to each other in character ; yet it 
clearly defines the position of Universalism on hereditary 
depravity. 

Mr. LeFevre says of man, that his " moral character is 
the result of education, and is not an innate principle. 
When he comes into the world, his mind is unsullied as a 
sheet of white paper, without a single impression as to 
what is good, or what is evil, and consequently capable of 
receiving good impressions, or of being stained with blots." 
This was also the language of Abner Kneeland, before he 
avowed himself the champion of arrant atheism ; and it is 
the echo of all this sort of teachers, so far as the knowledge 
of the writer extends. They all tread in the footsteps of 
their illustrious predecessors — they follow in the wake of 
their breathing and thinking organs, Hosea Ballou, Balfour 
& Co. 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 17 

We Mk every intelligent inquirer after truth, whether the 

position, that mankind are horn as pure as A<l;nn was when 

created, accords with the practical facta in the case ai af- 

lorded by the life and character of the children of men I 

Are children as much inclined to virtue as to vice, to holi- 
ness U to sin | How comes it to pass, that all go aslr;iy ; 
tliere is none that doeth good, no not one I If one half do 
not grow up in virtue and holiness, ;it least ;i small portion 
of mankind might reasonably he expected to do so ; yet 
the Bible and matters of fact teach, that all are inclined to 
evil and practise vice naturally. If all are born as free 
from moral pollution as Adam was when formed in the 
image of God, then Adam's sin transmitted no influence to 
his posterity ; or else his sin gave no different shade to his 
character, his character was the same before as after his 
transgression ; or else the Scriptures are false, which assert 
that Adam begat sons and daughters in his own image. 
The above position, designed to destroy the doctrine of hu- 
man depravity, is therefore repugnant to common sense and 
the Bible. We have been the more explicit and prolix in 
quoting the language of some of the Universalist fraternity 
to sustain their position, that our readers may discover that 
our arguments to confute this tenet meet the case in show- 
ing that modern Universalism is at war with the Bible and 
Reason. How can we attack the citadel of error, and de- 
molish it, unless we understand the materials, and its con- 
struction ? To go to war, you should know the policy of 
the camp, and the strong fortifications of the enemy. 

Universalism denies the doctrine of human depravity, 
and teaches that all men are as free from sin and pollution 
naturally as a piece of white paper is free from stains and 
blots. But what say Reason and the Bible relative to this 
doctrine, 

That mankind are not born as pure as Jldam was 
when created. 



48 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

The first man was made in the image of God, and God 
pronounced him, together with all things he had made, very- 
good. If made in his image there could he no more hias 
to sin, comparatively speaking, than there was in God ; 
hut all his propensities and inclinations were strongly at- 
tached to virtue and holiness. How then did sin come in- 
to the world? Paul answers, Rom. v. 12. "As by one 
man sin entered into the world and death by Bin." v. 18. 
"Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon 
all men to condemnation." v. 19. "For as by one man's 
disobedience many were made sinners." If the state of 
man when born is not different from what it was when 
man was created, then we do not know nor understand the 
import of the above scriptures. They most evidently teach 
that the sin and disobedience of one man, viz. Adam, exer- 
cised a mighty and controlling influence over his posterity. 

How are children born ? With what nature, and how 
inclined ? What says inspiration ? Isa. xlviii. 8. " For I 
know, that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast 
called a transgressor from the womb." Hosea v. 7. " They 
have dealt treacherously against the Lord : for they have 
begotten strange children." Ps. lviii. 3. " The wicked are 
estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they 
be born, speaking lies." Ps. li. 5. "Behold, I was sha- 
pen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive me." 
Eph. ii. 3. "And were by nature the children of wrath, 
even as others." Now if all this language is proper to 
teach, that all men are born as pure as a sheet of white 
paper, without any blot, then we cannot conceive what lan- 
guage would declare adequately innate depravity. We 
shall not enter very critically into the examination of the 
above passages, in order to reconcile them with the doctrine, 
that hereditary depravity is uncondemning and is not liter- 
ally sin, for sin is a voluntary transgression of the law, be- 



iiimxn DEPRAVITY. l*> 

it will answer our purpose fully, to show that they 
at variance with the state in which A<l:un 

d. In consequence of the first transgression, 

Adam's posterity are horn with a nature and bias of mind 
that preponderates on the side of sin, and will lead all in- 
variahlv astray, as soon as actions are put forth with a 
knowledge ot nood and evil, and power to discriminate be- 
tween the two. It' this is not the ohvions import of the 
abovr 9, then it will be very difficult to determine 

what it is. At any rate they teach a different doctrine than 
Universalism declares to be the natural state of man when 
born. 

In order to investigate more fully the doctrine of human 
depravity, we shall be more particular to show, wherein it 
consists. There is a vast difference between hereditary 
and acquired depravity. The one is the state in which all 
the children of men are born ; but the latter designates the 
corruption of human nature acquired by actual and volun- 
tary sin. While the former is an involuntary and guiltless 
state ; the latter is voluntary and condemning in its nature. 
The prophet Ezekiel has declared, that the proverb should 
no more be used, that the fathers have eaten sour grapes 
and the children's teeth are set on edge — that children 
should not bear the iniquities of their fathers ; but the soul 
that sinneth, it shall die. 

We would make a few remarks, at first, negatively. 
Human depravity has not destroyed the moral powers of 
man, for then his natural image would be annihilated, and 
he would cease to be man ; and if anything, he would ra- 
ther be some other organized creature. So indefinite have 
been the conceptions of men on this subject, that they have 
imagined all the mental powers of man destroyed by hu- 
man depravity, and that when he is regenerated, the Lord 
bestows upon him new powers of intellect ; but, in reality, 



f)0 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

man p. the samo powers now that lie did prior to the 

fall ; and that he ever will possess, as necessary to retain 
his personal identity. 

Human depravity has not destroyed the affections of the 
soul, any more than regeneration confers new affections. 
Man has the same affections now that he ever had. By 
affection, we mean, a taste, appetite, or inclination of mind. 
If man had lost his affection by the fall, he would be una- 
ble to love and find pleasure in any object whatever. De- 
pravity effected merely a degradation of the affections, and 
perversion of them from God upon forbidden objects, and 
in regeneration, our affections are placed supremely on God. 

It has not destroyed the immortality of the soul, for life 
and immortality are inherent in the soul of man. Whether 
a person leaves this world wicked or pious, he will have an 
immortal existence, though it will either be of life or spirit- 
ual death. 

IN WHAT DOES INNATE DEPRAVITY THEN CONSIST? 

By it we understand, that there is in the natural man 
such an undue inclination of the ivill to sin and folly, as 
to subject all the intellectual and moral powers and affec- 
tions of the soul, to the complete control of selfishness. 
Instead of doing all to the glory of God, the claims of sel- 
fishness are heeded and complied with. The balance of 
the mental and moral powers of the soul is in favor of sin 
and unrighteousness, instead of preferring God, truth and 
holiness. Inordinate self-love and selfish motives now con- 
trol the will, and the actions put forth under this influence 
forbid supreme love to God, and the motive to glorify him — 
sacrificing the service of God and devoting all supremely 
to the idol — self. This state of mind proves that deprav- 
ity has destroyed the balance of the moral and intellectual 
faculties of the soul, and that the better part of man is en» 



HUMAN ni'i'K.w 1 1 v. ."> 1 

glared by carnal desires and Inclinations. Human selfish- 

i is usurped and ascended the throne and swayed the 

sceptre belonging to (iod. This state of mind, resulting in 

this perversion of character, is inherent in huin;in nature 

when bom, and tor this reason, when the children of men 

begin to act morally, their actions are in foul rebellion 

LSI God, truth, justice and holiness. This view also 

accords with Scripture. 

The Bible holds forth the idea, that, depravity consists in 

esteeming self as the object of supreme complacency — that 
\iie will is inclined to self more than to God, and if that in- 
clination or bias of mind remains unrestrained, it will inev- 
itably lead into idolatry, or inordinate self-love. As the 
suggestions of this perverted mind are complied with, man 
will be led farther, progressively, from God. This great 
truth is exemplified in the character of the Heathen. Rom. 
i. 25. " AY ho changed the truth of God into a lie, and wor- 
shipped and served the creature rather than the Creator." 
This history of the depravity of the Heathen is very in- 
structive. Because they changed the glory of the incor- 
ruptible God into an image like unto corruptible man, 
therefore God gave them over to uncleanness through the 
lusts of their own hearts. In Ps. xii. 4, it is declared that 
the wicked throw off the control of God, and claim an en- 
tire right to themselves — their depravity is displayed in ar- 
rogancy and usurpation. They say, " with our tongue will 
we prevail ; our lips are our own : who is Lord over us ?" 
The Savior said in Joh. v. 44, " How can ye believe, which 
receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that 
cometh from God only !" Read also the graphic description 
of the nature of human depravity, as given by Paul, and 
then soberly and candidly ask the question whether Adam 
had the same propensities to sin when created, that these 
wicked people have? 2 Tim. iii. 2 — 5. "For men shall 



52 HI MAN DEPRAVITY. 

be /overs of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, 
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholv, 
without natural affections, truce-breakers, false accusers, in- 
continent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, 
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
God ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power 
thereof." Now, if a holy and wise God can create human 
beings with such propensities to evil, then our conceptions 
of the divine character are lost in wonder and amazement. 
Our souls are stupified with horror. One thing is certain, 
as the Savior has also taught, that all sin has its seat in a 
depraved and selfish heart — out of the heart proceed 
pride, cruelty, revenge, contention, covetousness, envy, ob- 
stinacy, hatred of God and man, &c. 

Selfishness controls the will, the potent agent of all re- 
sponsible actions, and all the moral inclinations of the soul. 
Depravity warps and sways the mind. It does not con- 
sist in the powers themselves, the essential properties of 
the soul ; but in the use and government of those powers. 
Were the powers and attributes of the soul, received in 
creation, sinful and depravity themselves, then the essen- 
tial nature of man must be destroyed, in order to get rid of 
sin. The same faculties and powers being employed for 
righteous purposes, and according to divine instruction, is 
well pleasing to God ; but if for unlawful ends and in trans- 
gression of the will of our Creator, then it is displeasing. 
This is taught in 1 Cor. vi. 13- — 20. Thus, not the pow- 
ers of man, whether physical, or mental, or moral, are de- 
pravity ; but another extraneous principle controlling and 
using those powers and inclinations by usurpation. This 
ruling principle is identical with selfishness. 

Depravity influences the power of judgment, so as to call 
right, wrong; and wrong, right; to prefer earth to heaven; 
to seek happiness in the vanities of the world, and not in 



HI MAN DBPH AVl'I \ . M 

holiness of heart and life. Isaiah v. 30, 91. ^Voc onto 

them 1 1 i:t t call evil good, and gOOd evil; thai put darkness 

for tight, and light tor darkness; that put hitter i'or sweet 
and sweet tor hitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their 
own e\ es, and prudent in their own Bight! 91 

Depravity controls the affections of the soul. Instead 
Of loving (mh! supremely, the atleetious are exercised on 
creature-comforts, and the sordid affain of lite. In re- 
generation the atleetious must he transferred to God, and 
when the judgment becomes renovated, old things will pass 
away and all things will become new. The affections are 
placed on religion, holiness and God ; while formerly the 
influences of depravity had the ascendency and controlled 
the affections toward sin and sinful objects, and hatred to- 
ward God and holiness. Therefore the converted man can 
exclaim with Paul, the things I once loved, I now hate, and 
the things I once hated, I now love. Thus, man has war- 
ring elements within, each kind striving for the mastery; 
while religion subdues the heart to God, and moves the af- 
fections and powers of soul with delightful emotions ; de- 
pravity subdues every thing noble in man to the dominion 
of selfishness and feeds the soul with shadows. 

What is the result of native depravity ? It may be wise- 
ly and clearly inferred from the remarks we have made, and 
from matter of fact evidence to every father, and close ob- 
server of things, that inherited depravity has poised the 
mind in favor of sin to that degree as will inevitably lead 
to the commission of criminal actions, unless restrained by 
the grace of God. We see that all do go astray when fol- 
lowing the inclinations of mind; but a person is not judici- 
ally punished for this depravity. The reason is evident, 
because the entailment of native depravity is unavoidable — 
our agency in the matter was not consulted. No state or 
condition of man can be criminal, unless his agency was 



M HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

enlisted with the concurrence of the will. Since 1 1 1 i 
not the case in any of our race, because they were born 
depraved, therefore the Lord will not punish any for it — 
this alone is reconcilable with his justice and goodness. To 
punish the innocent with the guilty would be gross and 
flagrant in the sight of common justice in civil courts ; no 
less so in the government of God. True, children suffer 
much in consequence of inheriting a depraved nature; yet 
these are not to be looked upon as punishments, but as legi- 
timate sequences — as natural results of such a state of 
things. 

It is admitted on all hands, that an adequate cause will 
produce an effect partaking of the same character and nature. 

God is holy, just and good, free from sin and moral pol- 
lution, without any bias or propensity to wickedness, and 
He was the sole Creator of man — He was the cause, and 
man the effect. 

Therefore He created man in his own image, that the 
only rational creature might have a character as pure in 
kind as his own, as free from sin, or any bias thereunto. 

Again : We discover that men have a propensity to sin, 
as prone to evil as the sparks are to fly upwards, and that 
they are supremely selfish, and act counter to the will of 
God as soon as they begin to form moral character. 

But when they were created they were inclined to good 
like God, and could have no more fellowship with sin than 
light has with darkness, or Christ with Belial. 

Therefore man is not now what he was before the fall ; 
his nature has been perverted and become depraved. 

Universalism not only asserts that all men are born as 
clear of blots as a piece of white paper, and as pure as Ad- 
am was when created, (which position we have amply pro- 
ven to be false ;) but also — 

That all sin is confined in its incipiency and progress 
and end to the animal nature of man ; and not to the sokL 



. 1 1 \ . 55 

soul is free from any criminal participation in tm — 
sin has not ita origin in the mind — but the animal nature is 
wholly in the fault, and the bo U natural and moral 

evil. That this is the view of 1 nil , we shall prove 

from their own writings. Mr. Ballou, the alpha and oi 
of Universalism, in his "Treatise on the Atonement,-' 

e to the "origin of natural evil," that M this 
is unquestionably die result of physical organization and 
constitution of animal nature" Again he says, "that 
natural evil owes its origin to the original constitution of 
our animal nature, and that moral evil or sin oices its 
origin to natural evil" All natural evil, according to the 
in of Ballon, results from the original constitution of 
man. Pain, sickness and deatli are natural evils and have 
their origin in the physical organization and constitution of 
animal nature ; and as God has made this physical organi- 
zation, he created the natural evil in man, and adapted na- 
tural evil as the sole origin of all moral evil or sin in the 
world. He says again, " From our natural constitution, 
composed of our bodily elements, we are led to act in obe- 
dience to carnal appetites, which justifies the conclusion, 
that sin is the work of the flesh." Thus sin is confined to 
the flesh, the soul is pure and unblotted. Is this the teach- 
niL r of God ? 

The following language, though daring and startling, is 
nevertheless a clear expression of the views of Universalists 
on this part of their creed, and a farther confirmation that 
we have declared their views correctly. Mr. Austin re- 
marks, that. " sin docs not, and cannot originate in, or pro- 
ceed from the mind, spirit, or soul — that portion of our 
nature which is from above, and which constitutes the 
mrjije of God." "The inquiry is, do the powers of the 
an mind sin? do they prompt to known and willful 
wrong- I •• This would seem 



.')(> HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

to be as impossible, as for the sun to send down floods of 
darkness intermingled with its light." He transcends all 
this in the following language, " May I not with propriety 
proceed another step, and assert, not only that sin does not 
proceed from the mind, but that the mind or soul, so far as 
it is enlightened, never consents to wickedness ? When 
uninstructed in regard to the nature and influences of a cer- 
tain action, the mind, of course, is not competent to decide 
upon its character, or determine whether it is right or 
wrong. Its assent to sin, under such circumstances, is 
unintentional and guiltless. But when the mind is clearly 
instructed in the principles of morality, — when it is fully 
prepared to decide whether a deed is proper of sinful, does 
it then ever give consent to the sinful?" "NEVER." 
" Although, in these circumstances, the mind is in bondage 
to the propensities, and its higher promptings are lost sight 
of, in the whirl of unbridled appetites, still it participates 
not in their wickedness, but retains the integrity of its 
purer nature" Does all this sound like the preaching of 
Jesus Christ, the apostles and the faithful ministers of the 
gospel who have been successful in winning souls to God ? 
What candid, intelligent man, who is imbued with the 
spirit of his Saviour, can reply in the affirmative ? Reader, 
peruse the above quotations again, and then decide. 

From the quotations made we shall learn the following 
doctrines : 

1. That all natural evil is the result of the organization 
and original constitution of animal nature. 

2. And that all moral evil or sin owes its origin to na- 
tural evil and is therefore wholly the work of the flesh. 

3. That the mind can not sin, nor prompt to known or 
willful wrong-doing ; this is as impossible as it is for the 
sun to send down floods of darkness intermingled with its 

light. 



Ill MAN l>! l'K W UN. .>7 

•l. That the soul never consents to wickedness when en- 
lightened sufficiently so ad to discern the character of an 

action to be B infill, 

:>. That the soul retains the integrity of its purer nature 
throughout its bondage to the unbridled appetites and pro- 
pensities of our animal nature. 

It may be requisite to offer a few remarks on each par- 
ticular topic as presented above, bo thai their glaring contra- 
riety to reason and Scripture may be the more manifest 

1. We think the point incontestable, that man is a com- 
pound being, consisting of soul or mind, and physical na- 
ture, and that God is the Creator of both. But that alL 
nut u ml evil is the result and owes its origin to the organi- 
zation and original constitution of our physical nature, we 
do not believe, lor the single reason, that it conflicts with 
the word of God. Milton could say relative to the disobe- 
dience of our first parents— 

* * * * # " Whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe." 

Whatever disturbs and destroys the perfection of our 
physical nature, is natural evil; such as blindness, deaf- 
ness, lameness, diseases and death. The question is, did 
God incorporate all these afflictions and evils with our 
physical nature ? If so, then God is the author of all these 
things, and they are not the result of disobedience and^sin. 
Did God create us mortal and sow the seeds of death in 
our animal nature? How does this accord with the loud 
declamation of Universalists, that God's nature is so benign 
and merciful that he can not punish his creatures witli pain, 
affliction and woe, when they declare that God is the sole 
author of all the temporal sufferings, woe. and death, the 
human race are liahle to? Judge ye as wise men. Does 
,; 'ible teach that God created f hp human familv with 



58 Hi MAN DEPRAVITY- 

mortal and pain-saturated bodies ? Nay, verily, " Sin en- 
tered into the world, and death by 8171$ so death passed 
upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5. 12. 
Here we are told in unequivocal language, that sin entered 
into the world, and was the forerunner and cause of death, 
and that sin entered into the world by man. This passage 
can never be so explained, as to convey the idea, that God 
implanted death in the original constitution of man ; but it 
will ever bear testimony that sin is the cause of death, and 
had sin never entered into the world, man's corporeal nature 
would never have felt mortality and corruption. Again, 
we read in I Cor. 15. 21, " For since by man came death, 
by man came also the resurrection of the dead." Now if 
death be a result of the physical organization and original 
constitution of our animal nature, with what propriety and 
truthfulness could Paul, or the inspiration of God declare, 
that death came by man ? Was man his own creator ? did 
he form his original constitution ? If not, then, either this 
position is false, or else the Bible is a tissue of falsehood. 
We say, let God and his word be true, though we should 
be compelled to acknowledge every man a liar. The Bible 
is our guide. 

What peculiar object could the Almighty have had in 
view, in constituting our animal nature so as to render na- 
tural evil an essential part ? Is it a blessing to man, or 
glorifying God? We presume, that it is not serviceable to 
either. And how could a holy God create man, with an 
element in his nature, deadly and hostile to the perfection 
of his physical nature, and the prolific fountain of all ills 
and evils of our mundane existence ? It would be like a 
good tree yielding bad fruit, or a good fountain sending 
forth bitter waters. This is impossible, and repugnant to 
every lofty and consistent conception, we entertain of the 
Divine Being, therefore reason declares the position false. 



thai aO moral t vil or rin hi i in* tad ipi 

from nmtural i /•//, than in the former. Instead of sin owing 
its origin to natural evil, ire look upon natural e\il i 
legitimate fruit of human depravity and sin. Had it not 
been for primeval Bin in Eden, ami the consequent human 
depravity of mankind, woe. . pain and 

death, would never have been experienced. Eden's bloom 
lid nnmingled felicity would have been the portion of all 
created intelligences. Paul declares on Divine audio 
that natural evil llows from sin. "So deatli passed upon 
all men, for that all have sinned/' Rom. 5. 12. Is this 
not plain and decisive, that all men became mortal, or ob- 
noxious to death, because all have sinned ? What right 
have we then to teach otherwise, and say that sin has its 
origin in natural evil ? Such perverters of truth, says 
Christ, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. * Does 
Christ publish to the world, that all moral evil or sin is the 
work of the flesh, or that it proceeds from the heart, the 
moral and intellectual part of man ? His language is, "For 
from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, 
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wick- 
edness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, 
foolishness ; all these things come from within, and defile 
the man.'' Mark 7. 21 — 23. Are all these the works of 
the physical organization and the constitution of the animal 
nature I What part of the flesh has the power of "evil 
thinking ?" Who has ever heard that God has ever placed 
in man an element capable of thinking besides the spiritual 
mind ? Yet evil thoughts are sinful and condemned of God, 
therefore this sin is not the work of the tlcsh. Does the sin 
of murder rest on the physical constitution of man, or on 
the fatal weapon of his hand, or on the soul, the seat of 
love, hatred and the passions ? The Saviour replies, out 



HO ill MAX DKPKAVITV. 

of the heart proceed murders. The moral evils, or sins of 
theft, COVetOUSness, blasphemy, and pride arc all tlie works 
of the heart; the flesh, or all the physical powers only per- 
form actions as they are controlled by the energies of the 
mind, therefore the mind is responsible and blame-worthy 
for wrong-doing. 

We are sensible, that the Bible sometimes denominates 
such criminal acts the works of the flesh ; yet no wise in- 
terpreters of the oracles of God will consider the term flesh 
as meaning the body merely, but as referring to corrupt 
human nature, or the controlling power of selfishness. 
Look at Gal. 5. 19, &c. where you will discover that many 
of the vices there enumerated are the passions of the mind. 
Such as, "wrath," "strife," "heresies," " envyings," 
"hatred." That the corrupt propensities and carnal appe- 
tites of our nature exercise a controlling influence over our 
soul, is evident, for man in his corrupt state is " sold under 
sin" and is in bondage to wickedness. When tempted and 
drawn aside by our corrupt nature, with the voluntary con- 
sent of the mind, sin is committed by the mind. We shall 
find that the Bible speaks of a carnal or fleshly mind, and 
of individuals as carnal ; does it therefore mean that the 
mind is a fleshly substance, and that persons are composed 
wholly of a corporeal body, without a spirit ? Or must we 
understand, that men's minds are controlled by their cor- 
rupt nature, and wicked passions, that the powers of the 
mind are enslaved and governed by selfishness, and not by 
the spirit and truth of God ? Undoubtedly the latter is the 
prominent idea of all the passages of the Scriptures refer- 
ring to this subject. From this examination, we infer that 
all sin has its origin in the will of man, when performing, 
or consenting to the performance of wrong actions, and 
that all natural evil at first originated in the sin of Paradise, 
and now in the universal depravity of human nature, 



BUM w MBP1 kVl n • 81 

3. Neither can we believe thai the position ii tenable, 

that the mind van not tin, Of prompl tO known and willful 

wrong-doing* We should rather plead, thai without the 

Mind no sin COIlld be Committed, any more th. 

stone of the field, the clod of the valley, or the tree of the 
forest Is it not undeniably true, thai the will, the Jk>w< r 

of Voluntary Choice is die prime reason of human actions 

being praiseworthy or blameworthy ! Without this, man 

could 00 more be a virtuous, or a vieious bring than the 
slumbering rock. Abstract the mind, or soul from the 
bodv, will the corporeal organization perform any actions, 
either virtuous or sinful? To talk of sin as performed by 
the body independent of the mind, is to be guilty of double- 
distilled stupidity, and downright nonsense. What is moral 
evil or sin ! It is the disagreement of the actions and life 
of a moral being with the revealed laws of the Deity. The 
Bible says, it is the transgression of the law. Then the 
law of God determines what is right, or wrong ; and sin 
consists in actions which violate the will of Jehovah. Can 
all this be done without the agency of the mind? The re- 
ply is obvious, and decisively negative. Universalism de- 
clares, that the mind or soul can no more sin than the sun 
can send down floods of darkness intermingled with its 
light. There is so much dogmatism in this assertion as to 
outrage all reason and Scripture — it falls with its ow r n 
absurdity. 

The Prophet Ezekiel says, 18. 4. " Behold, all souls are 
mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son 
is mine ; the soul that sinneth it shall iCe. n Here we are 
favored with direct Scripture testimony, that the soul not 
only can sia, but does sin. Which shall we believe, Uni- 
dism, or reason and the Bible? We need not pause 
for a reply from the candid and honest-hearted. 



0*2 m .man DEPRAVITY. 

Equally false is the following declaration — 
4. That the soul never consents to wickedness when 
sufficiently enlightened to discover the character of a 

tain action to be immoral and wicked. 

In juxta-position stands the assertion, that the soul is 
guiltless, though it consents to a wrong action, when it is 
not sufficiently enlightened to discern the immorality of the 
action. Moral ethics teach, that the piHvilege of knowing 
what is right or wrong, is all that is necessary to constitute 
moral obligation. Willful ignorance is as guilty as willful 
sin. Paul affords an illustration of this principle. He did 
wrong things against the cause of Christ, and the votaries 
of His cause, and instead of being screened by his ignor- 
ance, it only afforded easier access to the mercy of God. 
His language is, " Who was before a blasphemer, and a 
persecutor, and injurious ; but I obtained mercy, because I 
did itignorantly in unbelief." I Tim. 1. 13. The Saviour 
prayed, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
they do." Luke 23. 34. These wricked people had the 
privilege of understanding the claims of the Messiah and 
that they were fulfilling the Scriptures ; but they were in- 
considerate, heedless and profligate in their conduct, there- 
fore they slew Christ with wicked hands — the prayer of 
forgiveness presupposes this. 

But how preposterous, absurd and wicked is the decla- 
ration, that the soul never consents to sin when enlightened 
to discover its heinous character — Does the soul of the 
high-way robber consent to the act of plunder ? Without 
a concurrence of the will he could not carry out the infer- 
nal suggestion of his mind — so teaches mental philosopjiy. 
Well, does the high-way robber not know, that his course 
of midnight depredations is infamous and wicked ? Stern 
incredulity, we should conclude, would even answer affirm- 
atively. Does the will of the murderer not acquiesce, while 



IMMAN DIPRAVIT7. N 

employing ilu^ deadly weapon in the destruction of the life 
of Ins Fellow, and <l«>cs he not know, that the ad is inhibited 
by the natural and moral laws of God I Who can doubt 

tin- ; yet musl we credit the reckless assertion that the 
soul never consents to willful ami know ii wrong-doing I 
not the libertine choose the infamous career of blast- 
ing the reputation and fair character of his innocent and 

cajoled victim ? Does not the perjurer pollute his 
with damning guilt while forfeiting his veracity in attesting 
to willful and downright falsehood? Does not the pirate 
stain his soul while reveling amid plunder and death on the 
Look at the numberless atrocities committed 
and delighted in by multitudes of the human race, possess- 
ing intelligence and judgment, and then attempt to recon- 
cile if you can, all these monstrosities with the daring as- 
sertion, that the soul never consents to sin. You mighl as 
well endeavor to effect a chemical affinity between gun- 
power and the igniting spark of the flint. The very stones 
would cry out in reprobation of such crude and demoral- 
izing sentiments, if no remonstrance were uttered by ra- 
tional intelligences. The heavens would clothe themselves 
with blackness, and the living orbs of light would veil their 
faces with sackcloth, if God could extort no denial of such 
ridiculous principles from living man. Need we add 
another word to expose this sentiment to the everlasting 
contempt of every inquirer after truth; or to arrest that 
person's attention and future scorn, who may have already 
half believed in the creed of Universalism \ We trust not. 

f). Again; it is said, that the soul retains the integrity of 
its purer nature, though it may be in bondage to the car- 
nal appetites of the animal nature. 

This proposition is founded upon the antecedent absur- 
dity, that the soul never consents to wrong-doing and is 
therefore guiltless and pure as Eden's bloom. Is it not 
3* 



94 III MAN DIPRA1 II v 

almost incredible that any reflecting man, can oven by a 
reckless effort, lose sight of the present condition of human 
nature to that degree, ami so far transcend the teaching 
the Bible, as to declare that the soul remains as pure as 
ever, though in bondage to unbridled passions 1 Yet this 
is fact, and will baffle argument however logical and nice ; 
but that men can believe it while under the influence of 
truth, we hesitate to confirm. Does the Bible unequivo- 
cally teach this doctrine, or demolish it with its truth-in- 
spiring breath? AVe have read the writings of the Apostle 
Peter, and there we find a different doctrine. He says. 
" Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth 
through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren.' ' 
1 Peter 1. 22. If the souls of men are purified by obeying 
the truth, then we should conclude, that they had become 
impure and unholy by disobeying the truth. If they had 
not been impure at first, they could not be purified. This 
passage therefore wages war with the above reckless posi- 
tion, that the soul never becomes polluted and guilty while 
enslaved by unbridled passions. 

Paul declares, " Speaking lies in hypocrisy ; having their 
conscience seared with a hot iron." I Tim. iv. 2. Is the 
conscience a part of the soul? Can it remain pure and 
unstained by sin when it has become seared with a hot 
iron, by speaking lies in hypocrisy ? The only reply that 
can be given strikes in the face of the position we are con- 
troverting. Again the same writer says, " Unto the pure 
all things are pure ; but unto them that are defiled and un- 
believing is nothing pure ; but even their mind and con- 
science is defiled." Titus 1. 15. How decisive this lan- 
guage, it needs no comment, to show its relevancy and 
adequacy to subvert the above anti-scriptural assertion. 

The understanding of the wicked is darkened, their pas- 
sions are bent on cruelty by malice, and their affections 



Ml N W I'l IV \\ 1 I \ 

prefer the creature to the Creator, their mind and con- 
science defiled and seared; vet Bays the Universalist, the 
soul of man retains the integrity of its purer nature, and 
does not participate in the wickedness of his sinful career, 
though its promptings are lost sight <>f in tin* whirl of un- 
bridled appetites. We take the teaching of God for our 
guide and protest against the incoherent croakings of error. 

After making this tremendous and down-hill pTOgtt 

error, it would not seem strange to find, that Universal ists 
declare, that either there is no sin in the world, strictly 
•peaking; or else that — 

God is the author of sin. 

We need not he very lengthy either in our quotations, or 
remarks on this subject, to prove that the position is argued 
by I niversalists as correct and sound; nor need we add 
many arguments to show the groundlessness and utter futility 
of such a position — Who can believe that sin is sin or 
wrong-doing, while it is said to be agreeable to the will of 
God, as well as, that he is the first cause of sin. 

Mr. Ballou anticipates the objection that the orthodox 
would promptly urge against the correctness of his reason- 
ing, therefore he says, " Perhaps the reader, by this time, 
is ready to say, according to this reasoning, ' there can be 
no such thing as real evil in the universe.' If by 'real eviP 
be meant something that ought not to be, in respect to all 
the consequences which attend it, / cannot admit of its 
existence" In plain language, if sin be something which 
is ivrong in all respects and in every feature, from begin- 
ning to end, in its inlluence present and remote, then there 
is nothing like " real evil," or sin in the universe. Yet 
such is the nature of sin ; otherwise circumstances may 
have the magic inlluence of changing the character of a 
positive wrong, and that which is wrong at one time may 
&e right at another time. Thus wrong may become right, 



(>0 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

ami why may not right become wrong under certain cir- 
cumstances? Any position ol' this kind must be grossh 
absurd, for an action which is contrary to the will of God 

must always necessarily be wrong — its character is as un- 
changeable as the will of God is immutable ; and the only 
influence which circumstances can exert is to screen the 
wrong-doer from guilt. For instance — An insane man 
may commit suicide, though the action can never be right, 
but be always wrong, for it is opposed to the will of God, 
yet he is not criminated with the action, for the reason, 
that he was laboring under the influence of insanity. So a 
right action may lose its virtue, when performed by a com- 
pulsory influence — No one is praised for activities, when 
he is not under the government of right motives, and a 
voluntary choice. 

Mr. Ballou most clearly declares that God is the author 
of sin in the most significant sense. He supposes the ob- 
jector to declare, that, according to his reasoning, God is 
the author of sin, to which he replies, " that God may be 
the innocent and holy cause of that which, in a limited 
sense, is sin." How can the Lord produce sin in any 
sense, and still be innocent ? Can his w T ill conflict with 
his will and still be holy ? Strange! Again ; he says, "If 
it should be granted, that sin will finally terminate for good, 
in the moral system, it will then be necessary to admit that 
God is its first cause" " If God produced an agency, 
and that agency produced sin, it argues that God is the first 
cause." Here we have plain language, that God is the 
author of sin in its primary sense, inasmuch as he created 
a being, who committed sin against God. This argument 
rests on the presumption, that the Lord created man as cor- 
rupt as he now is, and that he is controlled by this corrupt 
nature as absolutely as hy fate. 

What discordant notes are uttered by this class of Bible 



.\ Hi I'K \ 8f 

expo The one declares with emphasis* thai mail 

i created in moral character as clean <fs a piece of white 

/itt/n r, and thai the soul never becomes an accomplice in 

gttllt ; while another declares that God created 111:111 will; 

corrupt physical organizationi adapted to be the prolific 
source of all the moral c\d in the universe, and thai God is 

the primary cause of Sin. Above all this, that siu is intro- 
duced into the universe as means for an end, and that it 

"will finally terminate in good ;" so that more good will 
be the result of the existence el" sin in the world, than could 
have been produced without it. If so, then the more moral 
evil, the greater good will be realized. Let us therefore 
sm, that good may abound. Upon such profligate teaching 
the Apostle Paul pronounces an unqualified condemnation. 
.Now if God he the author of sin in a primary sense, and 
the animal nature of man only as controlled by God for the 
necessary production of moral evil ; and moral evil intro- 
duced into the world to consummate a greater good, then 
what turpitude can there be attached to sin and what 
desert of punishment ? Can God consistently, either in 
this life or in the life to come, punish man for his corrupt 
animal constitution, or for its legitimate fruit, when they 
assert that he is the author of both ? We should suppose 
not. To us it appears evident, that either sin is no sin 
and that man is no free agent ; or else that God is not the 
author of sin. For sin is a voluntary action in defiance of 
the will of God, and as God can never act against his will, 
and since it is self-evident that sin does exist ; therefore 
God can not he the author of sin, and man must be a free 
agent, and the sole producer of moral evil. 

There is one passage of Scripture introduced to support 
the position that God is the author of moral evil, or sin. 
It may be found recorded in Is. xlv. 7. " I form the Kght 
and create darkness ; I make peace and create evil. I the 



|| HUMAN DKI'KAVITV. 

Lord do all these things/' In order to show that this p 
has been grossly wrested from its proper and origin] 

import may be of considerable importance in this connec- 
tion, since so much stress is laid upon this passage to pre 
that God is the author of sin. Some of the expressions 
are evidently figurative, and in this mode they are frequent- 
ly used in the Bible. The term "light" signifies prosper- 
ity, and " darkness" adversity and public calamity. A few- 
passages will prove this. Job, xviii. 5. " Yea, the light of 
the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall 
not shine." Ps. xxxvi. 9. " For with thee is the fountain of 
life : in thy light shall we see light." Ps. xcvii. 11. " Light 
is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in 
heart." Ps. cxii. 4. " Unto the upright there ariseth light 
in the darkness." See also Prov. iv. 18. and Is. cviii. 8. 

2 Sam. xxii. 29. " For thou art my lamp, O Lord ; and 
the Lord will lighten my darkness." This was the lan- 
guage of David when overwhelmed with sore affliction — 
For the darkness of adversity the Lord will send the light 
of favor and prosperity. 

The common use of these expressions accords with the 
conceptions of the people in that age of the world. The peo- 
ple, especially the heathen nations, imagined that the govern- 
ment of the world was intrusted to the hands of two deities, 
the one, the source of all blessings and prosperity, and repre- 
sented by the element of light ; and the other, the origin of all 
evil, suffering and public calamity, represented by darkness. 
Under this delusion, the Persian king was laboring, (in 
reference to whom the first part of this chapter (Is. xlv.) 
treats ; therefore he imagined that the prosperity of his 
reign was afforded by the god of light ; and that all adver- 
sity proceeded from the god of darkness. The Lord here 
w r ishes to teach Cyrus that there existed but one eternal 
and true God, who was the Creator and Preserver and 



Ml i M 

of the universe— that he wbb the Amlior of pros- 
perity and adversity, and thai he raised op one kingdom 
and demolished another — he gave light, and darkness. In 
order to explode the religious system of the heathen \Ii- 
- relative to the character of the Qovernoi of die uni- 

, and teach Cyrus the character of the true God, the 
spirit o( God made nse of such language as used in the 

ige under consideration. 
M Lnd create evil.' 1 Before the Lord is charged as being 
the author of sin, and this passage is lugged in to sustain 
the correctness of the charge, it should first be proved, that 
the term "evil" in this place means sin. To us it appears, 
that it implies nothing more than public calamity. In this 

. it is used in the Scriptures. Job. xxx. 26. "When 
I looked for good, then evil came unto me ; and when I 
waited for light, then came darkness" Matt. vi. 34. 
" Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Rom. xii. 
17. " Recompense to no man evil for evil" Prov. xv. 15. 
" All the days of the afflicted are evil" Let the Bible be 
its own expositor, and it will guide us into the broad day 
of truth ; it will give a consistent view of the character of 
God, the doctrines of the Bible, and the moral government 
of the world. 

If we have given a consistent interpretation of the pas- 
sage, then it affords not even the shadow of an argument to 
show that God is the author of sin. That we have given 
the true import of the passage, no unsophisticated person 
will attempt to deny. 

TOTAL DEPRAVITY DENIED. 

Embracing views such as we have been rebutting, there is 
nothing strange that Unix ersalists should unqualifiedly re- 
ject the doctrine of total depravity as understood by ortho- 
dox theologians. The language of Ballou on this subject 



?(> HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

- follows: " The opinions of onr doctors, that the very 
nature of man is so depraved that there is nothing morally- 
good in it, and that it is totally averse to the nature of God* 
is doubtless erroneous." Mr. D. Skinner of Utica, saj 
k * that the doctrine [of total depravity], being opposed to rea- 
son and common observation, is false and untenable." S. 
R. Smith, of Albany, declares, "that the doctrine of the 
total moral depravity of mankind is neither agreeable to 
reason and experience, nor taught in the Bible." 

The testimony of these three men of public notoriety 
among Universalists, and who hold the position of oracles 
in that denomination, is sufficient to define the position 
of Universalism on this subject. "It is doubtless errone- 
ous" — "it is false and untenable" — "it is in conflict with 
reason, experience, and the Bible," are expressions suffi- 
ciently explicit, to prove the doctrine is unqualifiedly re- 
jected by them. 

Take the Savior's rule, which reads, " he that is not for 
me, is against me," and then closely scrutinize the deport- 
ment of the profligate, and those who have no fear of God 
before their eyes, how much do they perform for the glory 
of God ? What do reason and observation testify ? Is it 
not, that such persons are wholly averse to the nature of 
God, and live as though there were no Supreme Being in 
the universe? 

By total depravity we do not mean, that the wicked are 
as bad as they can become, for we know that the wicked 
grow worse and worse. 

Or that their social nature is supplanted by malevo- 
lence, and the highest degree of all the baser passions, 
for some of the wicked are sociable and polite. Nor 
that all their actions, as such, are mischievous, wrong and 
maliciously unkiji for the wicked may relieve the dis- 



1 I 

•d, visit the lick, and contribute to benevolent enter- 
-, which .-is actions are good, however wrong the mo- 
be. Though the actions are an index to the 
motives of the heart, as a general thing, j et the deep hj po- 
rrisv of the heart may screen the motives, while perform- 
ing fair and benevolent actions. 

Nor are we to understand, that all men arc equally rile 

and wicked. Wc find that there arc different degrees of 
wickedness in the world among the profane and ungodly, 
lor one has plunged farther into tin? polluting stream of folly 
and corruption than his neighbor. After all, they are living 
without God or any filial fear of Him in the world. 

her do we believe that men are compelled to com- 
mit sin. If this were the case, sin would cease to be sin, for 
the only correct idea we can form of sin is, that it is a 
voluntary transgression of the law. So long as a person is 
incapable of putting forth voluntary actions, he will not be 
punished for wicked actions, nor rewarded for good actions. 
It is often said, that a man's habits are beyond his control, 
and that vice has become his second nature, therefore he 
is not accountable for his wickedness, or viciousness. 
Whether this position is true or not, it does not mitigate 
the criminality of his conduct, for he is equally guilty for 
the acquirement of such habits. God never implanted 
in human nature such habits ; but they are of his oavii 
creating. 

The wicked are totally depraved, because all their actions 
are put forth through the influence of supreme selfish feel- 
md not with an eye single to the glory of God. The 
will, the king amon<r the intellectual powers in a state of 
depravity, is actuated and controlled by selfish motives. 
The glory of God is not sought, and the improvement of 
the universe for the declarative honor of Jehovah. The 



72 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 

language of the selfish and depraved heart is, what shall 
we eat, and what shall we drink, wherewithal shall we be 
clothed ; while the great and weighty matters of judgment 
mercy, truth, salvation and grace are overlooked. " The 
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked ; 
every imagination of the thoughts of the heart are wicked 
continually. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart 
faint — from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is 
no soundness in it." The intellectual and moral powers 
are misdirected, and all the activities of life are perverse. 
" The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do 
evil. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be"— at all times and continally in stout 
rebellion — " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the 
leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good, that are ac- 
customed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23. Do all these Bible 
testimonies prove nothing in support of the tenet, that the 
heart of man is wholly corrupt and depraved ; and in op- 
position to the daring assumption, that the mind never be- 
comes entangled in sin, and stained with its guilt ? It ap- 
pears, that those who have cut loose from the moorings of 
truth, dare venture their frail bark amid the roaring breakers 
of error, though certain of shipwreck. 

We have now passed through the investigation of the 
subject of human depravity and fairly shown the faith of 
Universalism, by quoting their own sayings and writings ; 
we have also attempted to show the fallacy of their asser- 
tions and reasonings by the light of common sense and rea- 
son, as well as their utter hostility to the word of God. It 
is not at all surprising, that the adherents of Universalism 
should cherish such trifling ideas of the desert of sin ; and 
loose notions concerning punishment, when we take into 
consideration their vague and erroneous sentiments on the 



HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 1\\ 

Scripture doctrine of human depravity. What the Bruit of 

i hi* denial of this doctrine is, will be palpably manifi 

ire progress in Bhowing the absurditj <>f their religious 

tenets. In close connection with human depravity, they 
would be likely to express their views of the desert of sin; 
in this we are not disappointed, for they have not cloaked 

their views with a cloud of darkness, lor a subject, as com- 
monly understood, so much opposed to their scheme) has 
not been passed by unnoticed, nor escaped the mangling 

pruning knife of criticism. 



CHAPTER III 

THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

" Ye have wearied the Lord with your words ; yet ye 
say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Ev- 
ery one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, 
and he delightethin them; or, TFIiereis the God of judg- 
ment?" Mai. ii. 17. 

If the people in the days of the prophet Malachi were so 
profligate in their sentiments, as to blend the character of 
the righteous and the wicked, and served the Lord with 
their sins and wearied him with their iniquities ; that they 
could see no difference in the moral character of men, that 
the vile and ungodly were as good and as much esteemed in 
the sight of God as the virtuous and the godly ; then it is 
not surprising that they discarded the doctrine of condign 
punishment, and contemptuously inquired, "Where is the 
God of judgment?" Nor is it the strangest thing in the 
earth, that Universalists should peremptorily deny the doc- 
trine of future punishment, or that divine happiness is ever 
forfeited by the commission of sin, since they hold such 
loose and anti-scriptural views of sin. To deny that the 
soul is ever stained by sin ; yea, on the contrary, to assert 
that the mind never consents to evil doing, and continues to 
be as pure as the soul of Adam when created ; would lead 
us to oppose the propriety of the doctrine of either present, 
future, or everlasting punishment. 

We very well know, that these were not the views of 
Murray, Winchester, and others, who early propagated 



I hi 1 1 \ m 1 1 01 Tfl 

opinions, perhaps not differing materially from orthodoa 
. except in rejecting the doctrine of everlasting pun- 
ishment m the proper reward of sin. 15m Modern Univer* 
s:ilism "explodes," as Ballon says, the doctrine of future 
punishment, together with every other fundamental doc- 
trine i>( the Bible. Prom human depravity and the divini- 
ty of Christ, down through the chain of Scriptural doc- 
trines, not excluding the woful destiny of the wicked in 

eternity* 

The .lews as s nation, and the christian church, have 
uniformly believed in the doctrine of everlasting punish- 
ment h has always heen deemed a necessary sanction of 
the law o( God, and the proper penalty of sin, until recent- 
ly, when a people, who wish to be recognized as christian, 
have shown the temerity to reject and spurn the doctrine. 
While some venture to reject the doctrine of the eternity 
of punishment only, and hold to a future limited punish- 
ment ; others, and the great majority of that fraternity, ut- 
terly reject the notion of future punishment. Even those 
who pretend to believe in future condign punishment, at- 
tach but a trivial importance to the doctrine, for they never 
raise their warning voice to deter men from sin, in view of 
this destiny. And those who deny the Scriptural charac- 
ter of the doctrine of all future as well as endless woe, are 
never inclined to discuss the question of future punishment 
distinctly, and prove from the Bible that sin and its legiti- 
mate punishment, shall not exist beyond death. They 
prefer to harp on the doctrine of endless punishment ; and 
then without taking up the subject, proving that the Bible 
teaches endless happiness to the whole human family, and 
that all punishment is necessarily confined to this life, they 
rather assume a negative position, and show that the argu- 
ments and portions of Scripture which have been supposed 
by the orthodox to prove eternal punishment are inade- 



76 THE PENALTY Of SIN. 

quale to the purpose and are falsely construed — conse- 
quently the negative of the question must be true, the fu- 
ture happiness of all mankind. If the orthodox arc bo pal- 
pably wrong and so egregiously deceived in giving credence 
to the doctrine of future and everlasting misery ; and the 
opposite doctrine is so demonstrably true, then we should 
at least suppose, that the Bible would somewhere definite- 
ly state the same, and not leave so important a doctrine to 
be inferred from declarations that need torturing construc- 
tions, abstruse criticisms, and sophisticated reasoning to do 
away their natural application and obvious meaning. Yet 
so these things appear. 

To do away the commonly received sentiment, that the 
penalty of the law is future and eternal punishment, Mod- 
ern Universalism declares that sin will have no influence 
upon any one of the human family after death, and that 
heaven never was forfeited by sin. Be it known, that the 
prominent writers and preachers of Universalism teach the 
following doctrine in relation to the penalty of sin : 

That heaven and future glory were never forfeited by 
sin, and that sin will exert no influence upon any human 
creature beyond death. 

The following quotations will show what Universalism 
is in relation to the nature, desert and influence of sin. The 
controvertist, A. C. Thomas, says: "Evil, whether di- 
rectly or indirectly introduced into the divine government 
of God, must be considered a means, not an end. The 
end contemplated by the permission or ordination of evil, 
must be in harmony with the spirit of God as our Father." 
" I have uniformly taken the ground, that evil in the gov- 
ernment of God is not a final result. It exists in the 
progress, but belongs not to the consummation." " I can 
conceive of the permission of evil as a temporary matter 
without any impeachment of the Divine perfections — but 



i in: ti.n m, 1 \ <»i 77 

(vil 01 i /////// reauA ia utterly incompatible with .-ill we 
know, oi can conceive <>f the perfectiom of the Qod and 
F il." m Evil as a final result, is an ulHmati con- 

ilitio/i, a)} absolute end, a fixed and permanent termina- 

tion in evil." 

Here we have it declared, thai evil (or sin and wicked- 
ly ifl merely temporary, and only exiati in 

the pr the moral government of God, and it was 

introduced as a means for the consummation of that ohject 
which harmonizes with the love and goodness of God. If 
so, it is impossible to forfeit heaven by the commission of 
sin and a life of profligacy. 

in — moral evil will never result (for it would be an 
impeachment of all the Divine perfections of God,) in future, 
permanent, and endless misery, it being undeserving of 
such a fate, and incompatible with the character of God. 
If this be true, then it is utterly impossible to forfeit heaven 
or future glory by sin. The very attributes of God would 
prevent it ; his benignity and moral government would in- 
terpose and neutralize such a result. All this goes to prove, 
that Universalists believe that sin is of such trivial conse- 
quence, that the penalty of sin never demanded the inflic- 
tion of everlasting death, and that heaven was never forfeit- 
ed by sin. 

Look at the testimony of others. Mr. Ballou, the father 
of Modern Universalism, makes the following declaration : 
" Now we ask, can you find, that God ever gave a law to 
man, which required endless misery in case of disobedi- 
ence ? Sure ice are, the Scriptures speak of none, neither 
do the dictates of good reason. admit of its existence." " A 
false education has riveted the error in the minds of thou- 
sands, that God's law required endless misery to be inflict- 
ed on the sinner." 



78 1 1 hxli i cw snr 4 

Here then we have the testimony of another champion 
of Univcrsalism, that the law of God never required the in- 
fliction of endless misery upon the sinner for disobedience, 
and a career of proilijrate wickedness. The penalty of Bin, 
as commonly understood by the orthodox, demanding un- 
ending misery, is unsupported by the Scriptures and good 
reason, if we are to receive the teaching and unqualified as- 
sertion of Ballou ; and according to the testimony of A. C. 
Thomas, the " end contemplated by the permission, or or- 
dination of evil must be in harmony with the spirit of God 
as our Father." How then can sin be so atrocious in crim- 
inality and ruinous in its influence, as to effect and deserve 
the everlasting destruction of the sinner, and consequently 
debar the sinner from a final participation in the felicities 
of the immaculate glories of the upper world ? But let us 
view more testimony on this subject, that we may escape 
the charge of falsely accusing others of holding the senti- 
ment above stated — that sin never has and never can for- 
feit heaven. 

Mr. Williamson, defending that denomination, holds the 
following explicit language: "The dogma of endless woe 
we reject, as unmerciful, unjust, and cruel; a penalty 
which a just God never did, and never can, annex to his 
law." " I am not speaking at random, but I know where- 
of I affirm, when I say that no living man can take up the 
Bible and find a place where God gave man a law, and an- 
nexed to it the penalty of endless misery. Hence, I say, 
that man needed not to be saved from such an evil, for the 
best of all possible reasons, that in the economy of God, he 
never was exposed to any such calamity." Mr. Balfour, 
their learned divine, takes the stand of giving the following 
oracular testimony : " I maintain, that no man by his un- 
belief and disobedience can forfeit a future immortal life, 
and subject himself either to a limited or endless punish- 



nu n:\Ai.r, 70 

tie" < >• v. Skinner, of Boston, 

"So far as admission to endless glory is concerned! the 

saint and einner stand on a perfect level." Then, of 

, the sins .of man have no more influence to clone the 

of heaven against the sinner, than the virtues of the 

pious would procure and constitute a character fitted for 

leclarations amply sustain the position, that 
m the opinion <>t* Universalists, future happiness never was, 
and never can be forfeited by sin, and that all its calamitous 
influence, if any, will cease at death. This latter part will 
receive a fuller investigation in another part of the work. 

It will now become us, as a biblical inquirer after truth, 
to look at the teachings of the Scriptures and sound reason, 
and show that the dogma of Universahsm is " monstrous," 
"and trifling with the divine attributes," instead of being 
the teachings of orthodoxy on this subject. 

We shall attempt to prove that sin has forfeited heaven, 
and that its penalty is everlasting death, and consequent- 
ly that its influence will extend beyond the grave. 

To prove that sin, depravity and unbelief have excluded 
us from glory and out of all our rightful claims to heaven, will 
be our main object in the selection of the following passages 
of Holy Writ. The position is so perfectly familiar and ad- 
mitted as self-evident by all orthodox persons, that it seems 
useless labor to prove and establish the doctrine. Never- 
theless there is some importance in bringing forward the 
Scriptural testimony in systematic order, since there are 
men who have the rashness to unequivocally deny it. 

The first passage we would adduce, may be found in 
Rom. iii. 23. " For all have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God." The Apostle is here teaching that all men 
are condemned by the law — all have incurred the penalty 
of the law and cannot he justified by any moral deeds. 
The only way for an}' one and every one to gain the right- 
4 



80 



1111. PENALTY OF SIN. 



eousness for which God will justify and approve, is ac- 
quired alone by faith in Jesus Christ. The imperati 
necessity, not only of the righteousness of God to secure 
justification, but also of faith for its attainment, is inculcated 
in the passage, "For all have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God." Not only have all sinned, but by their 
sins they have forfeited "the glory of God." It will be 
no relief to explain the "glory of God" as being the en- 
joyment of religion in this life ; for if the approbation, the 
grace, and whatever is glorious in God can be forfeited by 
sin in this life, for the same reason, it can be forfeited in 
the future life — as God is unchangeable and whatever offends 
him now, will do so at all times. Here then is an instance 
in the records of God's truth, w r here we are taught that 
heaven is forfeited by sin. 

Ecc. vii. 20. " For there is not a just man upon earth, 
that doeth good, and sinneth not." The obvious meaning 
of this passage is, that every rational being upon the face 
of the earth has a defective character, and at some time or 
other erred in conduct, thereby rendering himself unjust 
before his Creator and Judge. If thus all have become 
unjust and guilty before their Maker, they either have for- 
feited heaven, or else injustice and justice are alike to God. 
If any unjust man is guilty, unclean, and unholy, then such 
a man shall not enter into heaven ; otherwise the Almighty 
can disapprobate man with a defective and guilty character 
in this probationary life, and withhold from him the pure 
blessedness of religion in his kingdom, but heaven and the 
glory of the Lord are the unalienable portion of all man- 
kind. Does this appear quite reasonable ? Judge ye. 

The greatest, the most desirable, and the holiest enjoy- 
ments are accessible to man, notwithstanding all his sins, 
when the lesser felicities of religion can be forfeited by sin. 
This appears incompatible with the Scriptures and sound 
reason. 



mi P8NALT1 01 >iv. 81 

John viii. 21. "Then said Jesus again unto them, I 
m\ way, and y< shall seek me, and shall die in yeui 
whither I go, ye cannot come. 91 The import of thk 

is, that the Jews, to whom the Savior addressed these 
[uence of the sin of unbelief, should die in 
their sins and never be saved firom them, and that h 

should be Closed ;iL r :iinst them, for they COttld not como 

where he was about to go. It' this passage does not teach 
emphatically the forfeiture of heaven by sin, then language 

is inadequate to symbolize the idea. The question might 
be here proposed, did the Savior mean heaven and immor- 
tal erlory by the phrase, " Whither I go, ye cannot come?" 
This expression was very common with the Savior. He 

in verse 1 i. I know whence I came and whither I go; 
but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go." To 

in this more fully he says in John iii. 13. "And no 
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down 
from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven." 

John. xx. 17. " Jesus saith unto her, touch me not; for I 
am not yet ascended to my Father : but go to my brethren 
and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your 
Father ; and to my God and your God." From all these 
passages, we may draw the indubitable conclusion, that the 
declaration of Christ to the unbelieving Jews was particu- 
larly designed to impress them with the truth, that by sin 
they had forfeited heaven ; that inasmuch as they had sin- 
ned against the only remedy for iniquity, they should die 
in their sin, and never ascend to God and to glory, whither 
the Savior went, after the completion of the work of human 
redemption. 

Prov. xiv. 32. "The wicked is driven away in his 
wickedness : but the righteous hath hope in his death." 
Here we have the righteous and the wicked contrasted in 
life and in death. As their characters are opposite in life, 



82 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

so will their death be— the one shall die in a gospel hope 
of heaven, and the other shall be driven away in his sins. 
Why? Because he has forfeited heaven and the favor of 
God. Is this not plain, that future glory is forfeited by sin ? 

John. iii. 36. " He that believeth on the Son hath ever- 
lasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see 
life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Here we are 
taught that the virtue of faith will secure for us enjoyment 
of life, in this and in the future world ; but that the sin of un- 
belief will dash from the lips of man the cup of salvation, 
and bring down upon his soul the wrath of God with a 
permanent curse. Must we not then believe, that sin for- 
feits future glory as well as present religion ? 

Rom. ii. 7 — 9. "To them, who, by patient continuance 
in well-doing, seek for glory, honor and immortality, eter- 
nal life : but unto them, that are contentious, and do not 
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness ; indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man 
that doeth evil," &c. Now, if the contentious, the disobe- 
dient to the truth, and the lovers of unrighteousness, who 
shall be visited with indignation, and wrath, and anguish, do 
not forfeit eternal life, then we can not discern the force of 
language ; and if they do, then it is proof in point. 

Peter said in John vi. 68 ; " Lord, to whom shall we go ? 
thou hast the words of eternal life." A certain lawyer once 
addressed Christ, as it is recorded in Luke x. 25 : " Mas- 
ter, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" And a young 
nobleman once said, (Mark x. 17.) " Good Master, what 
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" The term to "in- 
herit" implies to receive a title, and that before that title, no 
rightful claim existed. If there ever was a title, it had been 
forfeited. Now if the address was, "what shall I do that I 
may inherit eternal life," and its correctness was not disputed 
by Christ, then it implies that eternal life was forfeited, 



nu PENALTY OF flU. II 

and that there was something necessary to be done in <>r- 
ion of it by inheritance. That which 
we already possess, we cannot inherit anj more, then 

the inquiry under consideration, implies, that there either 

never existed a claim, or that the title to eternal "lite \v:is 

forfeited. 

We are aware that Tniversalists, in order to evade the 
force of such passages of the Bible, and with a vi.-w to sus- 
tain the position, so requisite to their theory, that sin never 
iid never can forfeit heaven, and to sustain a kind of 
consistency when they deny that the words " everlasting,' ' 
"eternal," &c, mean endless duration, do deny that the 
phrases "everlasting life," " eternal life," &c, have any 
ace to the future state of blessedness and glory in 
heaven, hut that they exclusively refer to the enjoyment of 
religion in this transitory life. This statement may be 
rather Startling to many who are not, or only partially, ac- 
quainted with their creed, it is nevertheless the case. This 
a few quotations will prove. 

Mr. Sawyer, in addressing Mr. Remington, holds the fol- 
lowing language: "The fallacy in which you indulge your^ 
self, begins by assuming that eternal life means endless 
felicity in heaven." Mr. Skinner, of Boston, says, "The 
phrase ' eternal life,' is a common expression to denote the 
enjoyment experienced in this world, through the influence 
of the gospel on the heart." Mr. Balfour, the master-spirit 
in erudition, in addressing Professor Stuart, of Andover, 
says, "You assume that 'eternal life' refers to the future 
endless happiness of the righteous." "Eternal life desig- 
nates indeed the happiness of the righteous, but it is their 
happiness in this world" If they should admit that, eter- 
nal life and everlasting lite mean endless felicity in heaven, 
then they would give a vantage ground to prove that eternal 
punishment and everlasting destruction would mean endless 



84 THE PENALTY OF 

death and misery ; therefore, rather than do this, they will 
run the risk of the consequence of applying eternal life to 
the enjoyment of religion in this life. Suppose we should 
apply all the passages of Holy Writ, which contain the 
phrase eternal life and everlasting life, to the enjoyment of 
the righteous in this life as derived from religion, how much 
proof would we have left to confirm the doctrine of endless 
bliss in heaven? If it did not sweep the entire board, it 
would obliterate the most direct, the most satisfactory and 
the most cogent evidences of future and endless glory. 

Let us read a few passages of Scripture in the dialect of 
Universalism in order to see whether it makes sense or non- 
sense. We will turn to John vi. 27, " Labor not for the 
meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto 
everlasting life" which read, " endureth unto thine happi- 
ness in this world." Again, Matthew, "These shall go 
away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into 
life eternal," or "into happiness in this world." This 
would suppose a man to be righteous first before he enters 
into the enjoyment of the christian religion, and that it is 
not simultaneously, which is false, therefore the construc- 
tion must be false and unsound. Again; Matt. xvi. 25, 
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it : and whoso- 
ever will lose his life for my sake shall find it," or " who- 
soever will sacrifice his temporal life for the sake of Christ 
shall experience religious happiness in this world." What 
a startling absurdity ! Need we multiply instances to use 
up such nonsense? Verily, any man who will have recourse 
to such criticism and such logic, must be hard pressed for 
proof to sustain his cause. They had better renounce their 
ever down-hill religious theory and retrace their steps, ere 
they plunge into the turbulent waters of avowed infidelity. 
In order to fortify their theory, which rejects the construc- 
tion, and labels it as mere assumption, that everlasting 



liil P] \ 

deatli or punishment, involves the idea of endless mi 
the; are willing to undermine and sweep away the chris- 
tian's foundation, or hopes of future gloiy« True, they 
may acknowledge, that they believe endless bliss in h< 
will be the portion of the righteous; yet what avail, if they 
all the essentia] proof. First erase the foundation 

and then erect your house. What confidence can W6 re- 
in such religious teachers | Can we safely intrust our 

souls to such guides I It is Ear better to receive the g< 

in its native simplicity, and permit it to have its natural ap- 
plication and obvious explication, than to mangle and tor- 
ture the rules of criticism so outrageously, and to allow our 
led opinions to govern our understanding of the 
This would be, at all events, the course which all 
who seek for wisdom from above would be likely to 
pursue. 

WHAT IS THE PENALTY OF SIN ? 

A legislative enactment without a penalty has no greater 
authority than mere advice ; but when a penalty is attached 
to it, it becomes law. So with the regulations and rules of 
the government of God, without the sanction of a penalty, 
they would constitute and embody merely Jehovah's ad- 
vice ; but having the solemn penalty of death attached, they 
assume the character of law. Therefore the law has a 
penalty, and that penalty is incurred at every transgression ; 
this is acceded to on all hands. But what the particular 
penalty of sin is, there is a division in opinion. The Uni- 
sys, that they are the mere temporary evils of 
lift . excluding future punishment and even our mortality, 
or temporal deatli ; while we would assume the position, — 
1. That the penalty of sin is death. This is most evi- 
dently the curse pronounced upon every transgressor, and 
is fully recorded in Scripture as the penalty of sin. It in- 
cludes, not only corporeal dentil, but also the death of the 



86 THI PENALTY 01 BIN. 

soul, or a moral death which will eventuate in an exclusion 
from the enjoyment of God eternally. An eternal death is 
only moral death, carried out in eternity, where all the re- 
sources of enjoyment are cut ofT and the soul is writhing 
under positive punishment. 

In the investigation of this subject, we shall institute an 
inquiry into the first transgression, and examine the import 
of the penalty of death there and then incurred. The re- 
cord of God's law, we shall find in Gen. ii. 16, 17. "And 
the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree 
of the garden eating thou mayest eat. But of the tree of 
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for 
in the day, that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." 
We have given the literal translation of the Hebrew, for the 
expression is very emphatical. We are aware, that the 
language of the sacred historian, has been looked upon as 
very parabolic, and criticisms have been made, amounting 
to a complete rejection of the obvious truths ; but notwith- 
standing cloaked infidelity may rage, and spend its strength 
in the assault, the history of human transgression and apos- 
tasy will stand an indestructible monument. 

The Universalist cannot apply the death incurred to be a 
temporal death, for they avow, as a tenet of their creed, 
that man was created mortal in his very physical constitu- 
tion and organization, and that therefore it was not the re- 
sult of sin. Neither can it refer to eternal death, for this 
they unanimously reject as unmerciful, and declare that 
" God never did and never could annex such a penalty to 
his law/' 

In reference to natural death, certain Universalist writers 
hold the following language. Ballou says. " Men die natural 
deaths, because they are naturally mortal; but they are not 
mortal because of sin, for man was mortal before he sinned, 
if he were not, he never could have sinned-'' Balfour say^ ? 



i ill. PENALTt "i 

k To say that immortal beings became mortal is b contra- 
dictioii in terms." Skinner, of Boston, Bays, M Sin does 
not make us mortal ; we wen originally constituted mor- 
tal" Sawyer, of New York, says; k - h is probabl; 
crallv known that modern Universalists deny that die death 

o{ the body is an effect of sin, and maintain thai ' 

d mortal, and that he and all our rare would hare 

died, if sin had never entered the world.' 1 These are the 

virus of Universalists as a body — this their own language 

We shrill not act as mediator in order to reconcile 

their views in relation to punishment for sin, with their 

- of man's original mortality. How to make death, 

calamity, his adequate punishment for sin, 

(Men the sin of suicide, when they teach that death is not 

the effect of sin, and that man would have died had sin 

never entered into the world, we leave for wiser heads and 

more subtle ingenuity to show. We are content to cull it 

the quintessence of absurdity and among the irreconcilable 

errors of the pit. 

But to return to the subject and show that death is the 
penalty of sin incurred by a breach of the law of God. 
That Jehovah designed to visit on the transgressor in the 
garden of Eden, or on our first parents, natural, moral and 
at death. 

1. That the penalty of sin in part was natural death. 
'♦In the day that thou catest thereof, dying thou shalt die/' 
was the language of the great God. In the act of disobey- 
ing God, our first parents brought upon themselves temporal 
death. They became mortal and dying creatures; the seeds 
-own in their physical constitution. If the 
sentence implied, that in the same day they should experi- 
ence the process of dying — that the animal functions should 
to perforin their 1 and that fliey 

should m a transitory to an eternal world of 1 



W TH1 PENALTY 01 SIN. 

ence, then the execution of the threatened penalty was sus- 
pended for the time being, in consideration of the promise 
of the seed of the woman. We do not discover, however, 
that any particular necessity compels us to construe the 
penalty announced in any different light than, that man be- 
came mortal, that the seeds of death were lodged in his cor- 
poreal system ; therefore we need not lay any great stress 
on the immediate execution of the penalty of sin. That 
natural death was in part the penalty of sin, is evident from 
inspired teaching. Rom. v. 12. "Wherefore, as by one 
man sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so 
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Here 
Paul asserts without any qualification, that sin was intro- 
duced into the world by man, (not by God,) and that death 
came with sin as its effect, and passed upon all men. 1 
Cor. xv. 21, 22. "For since by man came death, by man 
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam 
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Here 
the apostle emphatically declares that man produced death, 
(therefore it is false that God made man originally mortal,) 
and that Adam was this man ; so Christ procured by his 
sufferings, death and resurrection, a victory over death 
and a spoliation of the grave. What Adam entailed on the 
human family in rendering them" mortal and fit for the yawn- 
ing grave, Christ has restored by procuring the resurrection 
of the dead. If any stress might be laid on the expression, 
"even so in Christ shall all be made alive;" then we would 
say that the preposition "in," in connection with "Christ," 
is no more emphatic than the preposition "in," in connec- 
tion with "Adam." In both places they are expressive of 
agency ; Adam was the agent to bring death into the world, 
and Christ the agent to procure the resurrection of the dead. 
Having established the point by Scriptural citations, that 
death is the result of sin alone, and that it is to be looked 



i hi. ri:v\i.i v ui HN< N 

upon as a part of tin* penalty of Bin, in order to advance 
the investigation of the subject, though it may have no par- 
ticular tendency to expose tin* fallacy of Universalism, we 
■hall enter upon the examination of the inquiry : If death 
natural is the penalty of tin, then the children of men arc 
ihed for that which was brought upon them without 
their agency and beyond their control. We are aware that 

many Universalista look upon death as a punishment lor sin; 
yet it is a query in our mind, how they can rationally do 
so, when they unequivocally declare that death or mortality 
Was interwoven into the very texture of their physical sys- 
t< m by the linger of God. Their course is a leap from one 
error into another. 

The view we entertain on this subject, is, that death was 
the penalty of sin to our tirst parents in the garden of Eden, 
because they were actual transgressors of God's law; but 
that to all their descendants, it is not to be looked upon as a 
punishment for sin, but only as a natural consequence. 
Jehovah has laid down the maxim, that the son shall not 
bear the iniquity of the father, and that every soul shall 
suffer or reap the bitter fruit of his own evil doing in the 
light of punishment; therefore, though our primeval parents 
endured death as a part of the penalty of the law for their 
sin, yet it is no punishment for sin to their posterity, for it 
is only an unavoidable condition in which they are placed 
because born of corrupt and mortal ancestors. And as they 
became mortal by the sinful agency of one man, without 
involving their agency and responsibility, therefore they 
shall again be restored to an immortal existence wholly 
through the agency of one, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the 
resurrection of the dead. Thus what we lost involuntarily 
in Adam, shall be made good in the same way by Christ; 
for, for that none shall be punished. For this reason in- 
fants shall be saved in heaven by Christ soul and bodv. 



90 THE PENALTY OF SIX. 

Should we look upon death as a punishment for sin to 
all who are its victims, then the innocent and the holy would 
be punished together with the guilty, this would involve the 
moral administrations of God into injustice and tyranny. 
As the latter cannot be a true exposition of correct princi- 
ple, therefore death is not punishment for sin on the pos- 
terity of our primeval progenitors, but a mere unavoidable 
consequence. 

2. Another part of the penalty of sin is moral or spiritu- 
al death. 

This was included in the sentence of death pronounced 
on our progenitors in the garden of Eden. That a deadly 
influence should roll in upon their soul as the result of dis- 
obeying God, is not very strange, or beyond the stretch of 
credibility, when the most ostensible reason for complying 
with the suggestion of the subtle tempter, was, that by eat- 
ing of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, their know- 
ledge should be vastly increased — it would have a direct 
influence upon the mind, and make them godlike. If the 
arch-deceiver influenced their mind to such an extent as to 
tear it from its moorings in the positive instructions of God, 
by holding a temptation to the same, then we might pretty 
conclusively reason, that the sentence of death, incurred by 
yielding to the temptation, would materially affect the mind 
and moral powers, decoyed into unrighteousness. Not 
only so; but if the body was doomed to a temporal death 
because engaged as an instrument in the transgression; how 
much more reasonable is it to suppose, that the soul or 
mind should incur the greater curse, for being the volun- 
tary, the most prominent and controlling agent in the mat- 
ter. Indeed, it is not only reasonable to draw this infer- 
ence; but it is the decisive teaching of sound reason. It 
would be an unanswerable query, how it could be possible, 
for the body to fall a victim to the stroke of the penalty of 



i in: PI N U i 'V OF -i\. 9 I 

sin, and the soul, the controlling agent, should escape un- 
scathed. Both wen ory to the transgression, atid 
both were involved in the doom of death? and thai death 
must be adapted to the nature of its victims. The natural 
and corporeal body must suffer a natural ;m<l temporal 
death : but the spiritual soul, the fountain of all moral ac- 
tion, must be visited with a moral or spiritual death. This 
will be evident by a further examination of the Bible m 
. nee to this point. 

ekiel zviii. 4. " The soul that sinneth it shall die." 
That the Prophet had reference to a moral death particu- 
larly, must be very evident to every impartial reader and 
student of the Bible. We are aware, that the term soul 
may and does, convey the meaning equivalent to person, as 
frequently employed, and that it includes hoth the spiritual 
f man and his body ; hut we think it is never used to 
designate the body only. In the above passage, it has ex- 
clusive reference to the soul ; for the address is, the " soul 
of the father, and the soul of the son. Here then the death 
referred to has and does exercise its influence exclusively 
upon the soul ; or designates moral death. 

Romans vi. 23. " For the wages of sin is death ; but the 
gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
The antithesis of the passage consists in God and sin, 
death and eternal life ; while sin confers death on its vo- 
taries, God bestows eternal life on all who love him through 
Jesus Christ. Here the apostle gives room to draw an ar- 
gument for eternal death : if the blessing bestowed by the 
Lord is eternal life, th< n we might conclude, that sin will 
dispense eternal dentil upon all who commit it. 

Eph. ii. 1. "And you hath he quickened, who were 

dead in trespasses and sins." So large a portion of the 

Wed JTori/ treats upon this subject, and so manifest is 

the doctrine, that it would seem needless to multiply pas- 



THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

sages in proof of this doctrine ; and more so, since the ad- 
vocates of Universalism seemingly admit this point, while 
arguing upon the effects of sin. They make an indiscrimi- 
nate application of the death produced by sin to moral or 
spiritual death. But how to reconcile and harmonize their 
views of human depravity and moral death, we frankly 
confess to transcend our knowledge; unless they adopt the 
greater absurdity that moral death refers exclusively to the 
body. That this would be a fair and proper inference for 
their reasoning is incontestable. 

They assume the position, " that sin is the work of the 
flesh," and "although the mind is in bondage to the pro- 
pensities" of the flesh, "still it participates not in their 
wickedness, but retains the integrity of its purer nature." 
That the soul is as pure as Adam's was when created. 
Notwithstanding all this, in order to reject with apparent 
propriety the doctrine of natural death and eternal death, 
they make a promiscuous application of those passages 
which speak of death as the result of sin, to a moral or 
spiritual death; which of course must have exclusive re- 
ference to the influence of sin upon the soul. Thus, what 
they deny in one place for the sake of sustaining their anti- 
biblical theory, they acknowledge in another to support the 
same. Strange logic this ! and a passing strange theory 
this, to be supported by the Bible ! ! How much confidence 
can be reposed in such religious, reckless teachers ? Judge 
ye as wise and accountable men. 

3. The third part of the penalty of^sin is, eternal death. 
It is not our object to prove, in this place, that the incorri- 
gibly wicked will be visited with everlasting punishment, 
for this will fall more appropriately in another part of the 
work, where we shall treat on punishment. Our object is 
to show, that eternal death is the penalty of sin. We say 
endless, for we shall show, that this is the obvious curse in- 



ourred by a transgression of the law. To assert, thai since 
, al tli" first transgression and during subsequent 
events for thousands of years, was not qualified by terms 
implying its ceaseless existence, such as endless, eternal, 
everlasting, therefore the penalty of sin was not endless 
death — would be just as consistent as to deny eternal hap- 
ss as the just portion of the saints of God, during that 
period oi' time, because those qualifying words are not at- 
tached to happiness. Would it not resolve all the difficul- 
ty in the estimation of the Univcrsalists, to assign the rea- 
son for silence on this subject, that future and everlasting 
punishment as the proper reward of sin was never denied, 
therefore no necessity for stating the doctrine so precisely, 
as the present times would seem to demand. 

point of controversy does not demand so much to 
show, that endless, never-ceasing, are necessary and essen- 
tial qualifications to make out eternal death, as the proper 
penalty of sin, as to show r that the very term death im- 
plies nothing short of an endless curse. Now, if it can be 
shown that death, in its strictest and most comprehensive 
sense, means nothing short of an endless curse, then will 
be discovered at once, the uselessness of prefixing adjec- 
tives to convey such a meaning, for by so doing nothing 
can possibly be gained. There would be no propriety in 
this, until the literal and obvious meaning of the word, 
should be obscured by prevarication and denials. This 
would then explain the course of Revelation, from begin- 
ning to end, relative to this subject. As infidelity arose 
and darkened the clear orb of the counsels of God, so the 
Spirit was more precise in its teachings and more explicit 
in the use of words. 

We shall state : 

1. That death is the negation of life. The one can ex- 
ist only by the destruction or extinction of the other; when 



\)4 THE PENALTY OF SIN". 

life reigns death is not allowed to subjugate the soul or body 
of man, and when death sways his dire sceptre, then is life 
extinguished. So that when Jehovah pronounced the curse 
of death on man for his sin, it involved man in an infinite 
curse. For death cannot destroy itself, and being the an- 
tagonist of life, if ever its • reign is subverted, it must be 
done by another and a superior force, if not it will last to 
all eternity. 

If man was subjected to a moral death by sin, then he 
lost a godly life and incurred an endless curse, for the reign 
of death would run on endlessly, if not removed by a supe- 
rior power, and life restored in its place. Thus moral death 
would prove to be an eternal death. Let us examine this 
logic by illustration. 

We say that death implies an endless curse, and that its 
extinction must be effected by an extraneous and a supe- 
rior power, if not, life can never be restored. Natural 
death is the result of sin, as we have already shown, and 
this would prove to be an everlasting curse, the body would 
be retained in the grave to all eternity, if it were not for the 
conquest obtained by Christ over death and the grave, and 
thus the body is raised by the destruction of death. The 
power of Christ is absolutely requisite to destroy death, 
and restore life. Death natural does not cease to be of its 
own accord, nor are we informed that it would ever cease 
to be of itself, or run out at last, nor can life, the opposite 
state of death, destroy death and restore itself; but it must 
be done by the power of Christ, therefore, without the vic- 
tory obtained by Christ, natural death would prove to be 
an endless curse. 

So the death of the soul, which is the penalty of sin, 
must be destroyed by the grace of God, and the soul raised 
to spiritual life, or else the soul will endure the curse of 
death forever. The mora] death of the soul will prove to 



'l hi PBft iLTY OF BOfi 95 

be an eternal death, therefore the penalty of tin, or of the 
- an endless curse. It" this be the obrious meaning of 
death, then there is no need, that God should prefii to death, 
the adjective "endless," to make the penalty of the law, 
moan an endless curse. All this being so obvious as to 
nge a denial, we might rest the subject here without 

any additional remarks, for a plain reason is not rendered 

more satisfactory by a long chain of argumentation ; yet it 
might seem requisite to advert to the word of God, the 
grand arbiter of religious principles, to increase the light on 
this point. 

3. The word of God corroborates the doctrine, that the 
penalty of sin is an endless curse. 

In the position in which Christ was placed, it would 
seem essentially important, that the Great Teacher should 
unequivocally reprobate the doctrine that the death of sin 
IS an endless curse, when we take into consideration, that 
the Jews were generally firm believers in this doctrine. 
Now if this doctrine is so erroneous and dangerous to the 
present happiness of man, as Universalists would fain 
make the world believe, then we should naturally conclude, 
that Christ would have exploded these groundless notions. 
But instead of this, the Savior in numberless cases taught 
such principles and uttered such language as would have a 
direct tendency to establish them in their views. Yea, 
such unequivocal language as is unfit to stand by the side 
of Universalism, unless it is first criticised and tortured to 
death, or covered up with critical citations and the sophis- 
try of mistranslations. How usual it was for the Savior 
and the inspired writers to hold up in contrast the doctrine 
of death and life, the penalty of sin and the gift of life, 
and all designed to make the impression, that they were 
commensurate in point of existence ! 



CHAPTER IV 



THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. 



11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set 
in them to do evil" JEccl. viii. 11. 

Because God does not execute the penalty of sin always 
as soon as sin is committed, the transgressor is emboldened 
to persist in his career of wickedness, vainly indulging the 
illusive hope, that he is not held accountable for his crimes, 
nor liable to the avenging wrath of his Creator. Under 
this apparently lax administration of the moral government 
of God, "the sons of men" fully resolved to continue in 
sin, and contemptuously inquired " where is the God of 
judgment." The natural heart of man has not materially 
changed for the better since the days when the language of 
the text was uttered until the present period of time. In 
view of the light, and diffusion of the truth, the hearts, or 
purposes of the wicked are more criminally settled in the 
works of darkness, and unrelenting against the claims and 
government of God. Because God does not punish sin 
immediately, therefore many plunge into the vortex of in- 
fidelity, while others discard the idea that God will punish 
the wicked, or that he will carry out his threatening. 
Though Universalists profess to believe and teach that God 
will punish the wicked for all their sin, yet so loose and 
anti-scriptural are their conceptions of the nature and ex- 
tent of punishment, that the obvious tendency of their doc- 



i m: nwi.iv 01 in ^ 

n m. ifl, b) induce the wicked to throw off all religion 
traint in their settled purpose to commit sin. That this is 
no misrepresentation of 1 1 niversalism, will appear evident 

from future remark 

\- Universalis^ deny all future and eternal punishment, 
and assert that all men tor all their sins will he punished in 

this life, it will appear of considerable importance to eluci- 

thetr views of punishment, before we enter upon an 
array of testimony and suitable arguments to support and 
defend the doctrine of future and everlasting punishment. 
In doing so, let us investigate the views of Universalists by 
quoting their own language. They teach: 

1. That all punishment is confined to this life, and that 
it iri/l cease at death. 

The general tone of the preaching of Universalists and 
the common profession of their faith in the doctrine of 
punishment, clearly admit that sin can and will deserve 
punishment in this life only ; that none of the effects of sin 
will be realized after death, or after a departure from this 
world by the dissolution of body and soul. However, we 
are sensible, that many of the teachers of Universalism, 
have very serious doubts and qualms of conscience in re- 
lation to the truthfulness of the doctrine, that all punishment 
of sin is confined to this life — they fear that after all their 
assertions and reasoning, the doctrine of future punishment 
may be true. They are inclined to show their dogmatism 
in the denial of endless punishment only, and not in dis- 
claiming the doctrine of future punishment. So far as our 
knowledge extends, the teachers of Universalism have al- 
ways promptly declined to enter upon a discussion of the 
doctrine of future punishment. When they discuss the 
subject of punishment for sin, they confine the topic to end- 
less punishment. Just this moment our eye glanced at a 
challenge, coming from an orthodox clergyman, Luther 



98 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

Lee, to a Universalist, Eli Ballou, in the year 1842. The 
question proposed for discussion was : "Will sinners be 
punished, after death, for sins committed in this life ?" 
This, Ballou absolutely declined to discuss, for he says, 
" that many Universalists believe that sinners will be pun- 
ished after death;" yet it is well known, that they univer- 
sally represent in their preaching and newspaper publica- 
tions, that all punishment will cease at death. The only 
question to which Eli Ballou would accede and promise to 
discuss, was : "Do the Scriptures teach that any part or 
portion of mankind will be endlessly punished for sins com- 
mitted in this life?" This is not the only instance that has 
transpired, for others are upon record. They have always 
been loathe to discuss this subject. 

Their doubts and misgivings of mind in relation to the 
utter falsity of the doctrine of future punishment, will be 
seen from their own language. 

Mr. Jason Lewis, a preacher of Universalism, in giving 
a summary statement of the doctrines held by them, says, 
in relation to punishment, " Punishment, from the hand of 
God, being paternal — at some time or other, when it shall 
hare accomplished the object for which it was inflicted, 
will come to an end." It is true, Mr. Lewis does not as- 
sert that there will be future punishment, neither does he 
deny it ; but declares that punishment will endure until it 
shall have accomplished its end, the reformation of its vic- 
tims ; and thus of course, if the end is not secured in this 
life, it will extend into the future. If the question should 
be proposed why does Mr. Lewis speak so equivocally? 
Why does he not state distinctly, whether he believes in 
the doctrine, that all punishment is confined to this life, or 
that it extends into the future? The answer may be seen 
in their unwillingness to discuss the doctrine of future pun- 
ishment disconnected with its endless duration ; and in the 



ihk. PINALT1 00 

tion, that "in favor of future punishment there are 
some plausible arguments, which may be drawn from reap 
sou and analogy; 91 and the declaration, that the "doctrine 
of i limited future punishment has never, as a distinct ques- 
tion, axcifc (I a very genera] interest" among diem, and thai 

they coneeive it to be a doctrine M of minor importance." 

Mr. Whittemore, of Boston, says to his orthodox oppo- 

I, that the question of future punishment, they wished 

to "settle among themselves without any foreign help." 

ruth of the matter is, they fear the discussion of the 
doctrine of future punishment, and the most pugnacious 

g them will back out of a discussion of the punish- 
ment of sin, unless it is the endless punishment of sin. 
feel the weakness of their cause, and that they have 
but a slight opportunity to equivocate on terms and parti- 

phraseolojry, in comparison with what they have while 
speaking or writing on endless punishment. 

In reading a discourse preached by the Rev. E. H. Chapin, 
and published by the Universalist printing establishment at 
Utica, and widely circulated in pamphlet and papers among 
the believers of the faith of Universalism, the author says : 
" Some hold that sin and its consequences extend not be- 
yond the resurrection state — others, that the effects of sin 
at least, are felt in another existence, and that, therefore 
misery is produced to those upon whom they operate, the 
last is the opinion of your speaker.' ' 

Can the doctrine of future punishment, though limited, 
be of so little importance in the estimation of those Univer- 
salists who profess to believe it, or stand in fear that it may 
be true, as never to break silence on the subject and warn 
the people against the misery of a thousand years, more or 
less ? Do they dread to startle the sleepy nerves of their 
hearers and grate their ears with such unharmonious 
sounds ? Or will the people not endure such doctrine, even 



100 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

when palliated with the declaration that a limited future 
jnmishment is of minor consequence? Do they, who be- 
lieve such doctrine, preach and practice consistently, while 
charmed or frowned to sepulchral silence? Let Walter 
Balfour, the oracle in erudition, answer, while reasoning 
with such brethren, admitting the correctness of their views. 
He says : " Even allowing this little eternity of punishment 
is at last to end, the thought is enough to take sleep from 
our eyes, lead us to weeping and wailing; and to warn 
each other, lest we come to this place of torment." It is 
well known that Universalists have always been perfectly 
indifferent to the enterprize of domestic and foreign mis- 
sions ; but admitting that the doctrine of a limited future 
punishment be true, the conduct of the Universalists is 
grossly inconsistent in the judgment of W alter Balfour; 
and he interrogates them in this wise, " But why not en- 
gage in them with great zeal, unless a thousand years of 
punishment in hell is all a farce ? Religion out of the 
question, common humanity says — save them from so many 
years of mental misery, if money, zeal and exertion can 
effect it?" That this rebuke is merited and legitimate, un- 
der the circumstances and profession, is palpable and should 
have been heeded. But Mr. Balfour's most controlling ob- 
ject was, to shame his brethren out of such notions, and 
establish as well as disseminate his own opinion, that the 
doctrine of a limited future punishment is " all a farce" 

The effort has been made strenuously, and to a great ex- 
tent success has attended the effort, of bringing the Univer- 
salist fraternity upon the ground of denying all future pun- 
ishment, whether limited or eternal, or at least to assert 
and preach that the punishment of sin is wholly confined 
to this life. That this position is assumed, might be argued 
from the fact that their pulpits are muffled, yea, silent on 
the subject)— but not more so than their publications. The 



i in riwi T1 01 10 I 

the controlling talent, and influence, and learning 

ml still is sedulously employed to bring the de- 
nomination to assume the position dial all sin is, and will 

be punished in this life, and that :it death all punishment 

will cease — thus turning their eyes and attention from the 
doctrine of a limited future punishment which has occa- 
sioned so many corrodings of conscience, feara and doubts, 
and vacillation in the faith of Universalism. To prove 
this, we shall advance the testimony of their own writers 
on the subject 

All punishment is confined to this life, and shall never 
beyond the curtain drawn over man by death, for as 
sin will cease at death, so will punishment; for sin and 
shment hold the relation of cause and effect and will 
run commensurate in point of duration- This is the doc- 
trine propagated by Universalists ; but the question which 
stands at the base of their fabric, that sin will cease at death, 
is arrogantly assumed instead of proved. It is certainly a 
debateable question, whether the sins of this life must ne- 
cessarily cease to exist at death, to say nothing of the pos- 
sibility of sins being committed in the spirit-world. But 
to waive the investigation of this question for the present, 
to be resumed in its proper connection, we shall proceed 
to present the views of Universalists as expressed in their 
own language. 

Hosea Ballou states the question thus : " That in order 
to prove that a man will be miserable after this mortal life 
is ended, it must first be proved that he will sin in the next 
state of existence." Then he draws the conclusion, that 
man will cease to sin after death, for he will then possess 
such " a constitution of existence in which no such crimes 
can ever be committed," therefore he is " fully satisfied 
that all which the Scriptures say about sin and the punish- 
ment of it, relate solely to this mortal state." This master- 



102 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

spirit of Universalism, should first prove that the sins of 
this life ean not transcend the bounds of time ; and that 
"no one pretends that any crime can ever be committed" 
in the eternal world. Nevertheless, the opinion of Hosea 
Ballou goes to prove, that the present position of Univer- 
salists, so far at least as their principal men are concerned, 
is that they teach and defend, that the punishment of sin is 
confined solely to this world. 

A. C. Thomas, in his Philadelphia discussion, declares 
his belief, that "the Bible furnishes no evidence of a pun- 
ishment beyond the present life." 

Mr. Le Fevre states his views thus in his " Gosp'el 
Anchor:" " Man's sins, like himself, are of a mundane or 
earthly character, man dies, and with him die all those 
temptations which have led him astray from the path of 
duty, and constituted him while here a wicked man." Thus 
when man dies, all which constituted him a wicked man 
dies likewise, therefore wickedness and sin shall not exist 
beyond death. This is the avowed opinion of this cham- 
pion of Universalism. 

A certain writer in 1838, while speaking of the origin of 
sin as confined to the propensities and appetites of the 
body, declares that the mind or soul "never is the source 
of iniquity, and so far as enlightened, never consents to it;" 
he then asserts, that since the body dies and mingles with the 
mother-earth, " that sin can not exist beyond the death of 
this body, and the extinction of its lusts." We have 
heretofore shown the downright absurdity of the doctrine, 
that the soul is not the origin of sin and never consents to 
it, and that sin is altogether confined to our corporeal body ; 
therefore the very premises from which the Universalists 
reason to show the cessation of sin and consequently of 
punishment at the last breath of man's earthly existence, 
remain not only not proved, but even defy all sound and logi- 
cal argumentation. 



mi in. 108 

The quotations we have made are sufficiently numerous 
and explicit to mark oul the position of Universaliem in 

ace to the punishment of sin — that it is wholly con- 
fined to tins mundane existence of man. The prominent 

\ why they labor to prove thai all sin has its origin 
m the corrupt propensities of the flesh, and that the soul is 

ned and never consents to actual wrong, therefore 
when the body perishes and is mingled with the mother- 
earth, all sin ami all occasion of sin, yea, even all capacity 
to sin, will also cease, \>, that if the soul is capable of sin- 
oing, then the ever active mind may sin after death, and so 
destroy and explode the opiate theory of no future punish- 
ment. And while some believe that the wicked may be 
punished in the intermediate state, but will be raised im- 
mortal and incorruptible in the resurrection, and thus be 
p free from sin and suffering; others have invented 
the theory that the soul will be in an unconscious sleep 
from the time of death until the general resurrection, and 
have thus exploded the last citadel of the opinion of a lim- 
ited future punishment. Indeed, they have plunged so far 
into error as to receive and advocate the foolish system of 
materialism, 

As we have now sufficiently shown, in order to escape 
the charge of misrepresentation and of bearing false witness, 
that the Universalists, as a body, do most solemnly aver 
and advocate the theory, that all sin and its deserved pun- 
ishment must necessarily have an existence in this world 
only, and can never reign beyond the empire of natural 
death ; therefore, without entering upon a regular confuta- 
tion of this doctrine, which we reserve for another place, 
we shall proceed to show, that Universalism teaches and 
defends the following doctrine in reference to the punish* 
ment of sin : 
5 



JOt nu; rr.vu, iv 01 BIN. 

*j. Thai sin punishes itself, therefore /here is no inflic- 
tion oj punishment by our Creator. 

If sin punishes itself, then there can bo no infliction of 

punishment, properly considered, for the infliction of pun- 
ishment supposes that the victim receives more misi 
than what is entailed by the act of sin. The infliction of 

punishment presumes that the sufferer endures positive 
misery, imposed upon him under the just administration of 
our universal Sovereign. If sin, therefore punishes itself, 
such additional misery and woe cannot have pi 

That some Universalists believe that the sinner must 
suffer the penalty of the divine law, and the direct inflic- 
tions of misery from the hand of God, we are not inclined 
to deny; but that a great portion of them hold, that sin 
punishes itself, admits of undeniable proof, And it app< 
to be of no small importance to the consistency and the 
establishment of their theory ; for if sin does not punish 
itself, where do the murderer and the suicide receive ade- 
quate punishment ? They can not in the spirit-world, for 
according to their theory, punishment and sin do not exist 
there. The time has been when death was looked upon 
to folve the difficulty, and to be considered adequate pun- 
ishment for that murderous and sinful act ; but since it U 
denied that death is the result of sin, and asserted that 
God created man mortal, and that man was destined to die, 
w/iether sin were introduced into the world or not, there 
must needs be a change of theory. And what invention 
could wily ingenuity project, which would appear so satis- 
1 • and consistent, as that sin contains the element?, of 

immediate punishment Sin punishes itself, 
word as their own writings shall prove. 

A writer in the Universalist Trumpet, while in the ago- 
nies of giving birth to this new theory of his own mind, and 
in the joy of his transcendental exultation, holds the fol- 



105 

1<>\\ ing language : " An 

:, and much relied pn b) those wl 
camined tl . that the murderer ia not 

punished but 

of •' i of al] things. 1 The writer I tfyl 

. Impartial ' tihf 

that the horrid crime of murder carries with if, 

: which \ i -ly 

the ni accordance with it, 

crime and indeed all sin, would I ed as insepar- 

ably I and connected with punishment." 

In th are told that sin " carries with it 

own punishment;" and that this doctrine contains the 
raining- motive to avoid all and ev> 
Under the tuition of this sapient writer, we are in- 
formed thai the doctrine which inseparably associates pun- 
is the most wholesome and virtuous mo- 
tive that the deep truths of God can afford. But what are 
the writer's conceptions of that punishment, which sin 
wields for the punishment and correction of its own mis- 
deeds, and which are so very salutary to virtue and restrain- 
ing to vice ? Let his own language answer and explain. 
He save, "I believe that the state of mind in which crime 
is conceived, the awful misery attending and following it, 
in the terrible compunction of conscience — the fear of being 
detected, and indeed the fact, for the most part of the crimi- 
nal's actual detection — (murder will out,) these things so 
terrible, are nishments of the crime, and are alto- 

gether such as are calculated, without extending unto the 
immortal world, to restrain from crime !" According to 
the profound wisdom of this man, the punishment which 
sin wields upon itself and which is so salutary and restrain- 
ing is nothing more m punction 
of con: 1 fear of certain detection. If this and 



106 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

this alone is an adequate punishment for murder, why need 
he fear detection; for his arrest, condemnation and impris- 
onment, will either add nothing to his misery and punish- 
nt f or else it will be unjust, and he can suffer as a mar- 
tyr. The publicity of his crime will add no pang, disgrace 
or wringing sorrow to his misery, the legitimate punishment 
of his sin ; for if it does, then sin will not exercise adequate 
punishment, or else the additional misery derived from 
publicity, will be palpably unjust. Thus the careful and 
impartial cogitations of this profound writer in their practi- 
cal theory would sweep all civil penalties, as well as the 
code of divine law into the regions of non-entity, and thus 
we should live in a world void of moral and civil govern- 
ment. Xo doubt this would be a world adapted to down- 
right infidelity and every species of profligacy. 

Scrutinize a few things more. If the soul is free from 
sin, and never consents to sin, what right has sin, claiming 
to be its own punisher. to press the conscience into an in- 
strument of punishment with all its " terrible compunc- 
tions V or is the conscience no part of the soul, or is the 
conscience sin itself ? A little more light on the subject, or 
at least apparent consistency would not be amiss here. 
Again; do we not find that in the same proportion as men 
become profligate in character and vicious in conduct, their 
conscience is M seared as with a hot iron" and "past feel- 
ing ?" therefore we should conclude that the terrible com- 
punctions of conscience would be less, and the severity of 
the punishment of sin would be diminished. So say Scrip- 
ture and reason, Universalism to the contrary notwith- 
standing. But does this adequate punishment of crime, 
• consisting in the terrible compunctions of conscience and 
fear of detection, restrain men from sin ? Do we not see 
from actual experience, that the Scriptures assert a substan- 
tial fact, when they say, that the wicked " grow ivorse and 



Pi v\i 1 1 ..i 107 

and thai instead of the wicked 1" 
own punishm 
in the alluring path of vice, and that I in ©f 

happiness by the commission of sin — unit bib foi 

the sake of gratification, to them it has more pleasure than 
punishment ! ll«>w then ran wuch punishment restrain 
from crime ! 

But when is the suiride punished according to th< 
of this doctrine ! [a he punished in the same way by the 
terrible compunctions of conscience and Tear of detection I 
Then, he is punished before the commission of the crime, 
or else he is not punished at all, for as soon as death draws 

dttain, life is extinct and the soul is rocked into an 
Now if it be wrong to punish for 
crime Before its commission, then the s.uicide is not punish- 
ed at all, according to the doctrine of the above writer. 
From all this, we might infer not only the justice, but also 
the certainty of future punishment. Thus we find,* that 
although the theory of the writer may be very essential to 
the establishment and defence of Universalism, yet it stands 
in complete contrariety to the teaching of sound reason and 
the sacred Scripture. To prove that sin punishes itself, is 
deemed by Universalists of great importance to their theory 
of punishment, and we need not rest upon the authority 
and declaration of a single writer, for there are others who 
have sounded and re-echoed the same voice ; and that too, 
by those who exercise the moulding hand of Universalism. 

shall now present farther authority on this point — 
Hosea Ballou declares, that " the punishment, or sufferings, 
which we endure in consequence of sin, is not a dispensa- 
tion of any penal law, but of the law of necessity, in which 
law as long as a cause continues, it produces its eii 
Here we have the opinion of the father of modern Univer- 
salism, that punishment for sin is not an infliction of the 



108 rin: PENALTY OF 

penal laws of God, but that all punishme.nl grows out of 

and results from sin i: (Feel proceeds from a 

when and where we are sinful, just there u we 

are our own tormentors." 

Mr. Williamson remarks: " We believe that punishment 
and sin are related as cause and effect, and that they are 
closely and intimately connected as cause and effect can he, 
under any possible circumstances." Thus the natural re- 
sults of sin, both on body and mind, must contain all just and 
adequate punishment. D. D. Smith declares, that " Punish- 
ment is a natural, inevitable consequence of sin which can 
not be avoided by any means. And so the Scriptures speak. 
* * . * They speak of the punishment of sin as something 
vrhicli 7iatn rally grows out of sin, and which cannot by any 
means be avoided,.". 

A writer in reference, to the prodigal son remarks, 
that " the father did not punish his son after that he had 
done* committing sin: but that the sinner punished him- 
self, by walking in that w r ay iii which there is no peace." 
Mr. Whittemore of Boston declares, that punishment is 
"swift, sure, and inevitable, that sin goes hand in hand 
with woe throughout its whole duration ; that it is itself 
hell" Mr. Skinner of Boston remarks, " that every pas- 
sion of our nature carried to excess is criminal ; every pas- 
sion carried to excess is painful. This pain is said to be 
the punishment of the passion" Need w T e any more tes- 
timony on this subject to satisfy every candid reader, that 
we have given a fair and just representation of the doctrine 
as held and advocated by Universalists. If sin is itself 
hell, and woe accompanies sin throughout its duration, then 
sin must be its own punishment, therefore we have sus- 
tained the proposition — that sin is its own punishment and 
that there is no infliction of punishment by the penal laws 
of God, 



. 01 i\. 

In order to show the abiurdit} of tin tfbo^ 
; only append lour brief and pertinent i 

1. Ii overthrows the doctrine of an equ I distribution of 
ce in the administration of Jehovah. In this world the 

righteous at times suffer more t&an the<.wicked — th< 

\ like Job, w liile the \\ ieked are in 

and wallow m affluence. The innocent suffer with the 

calamities. All thi i ing in the 

providence of GTod, has always been a rock of offence to 

infidels and could only be satisfactori r ered to the 

iking the future world into close and. intimate 

connection with the present This then is an insuperable 

'ion to the theory of Universalis In in reference to -the 

nt of sin. 

2. The . mount of sin secures to the most wick- 
ed the least suffering. For it is possible for' the haters of 
God and religion, not only to sear their consciences and get 
past feeling; but even as Paul says, "to glory in their 
shame." They have lost all thoughts of God out of the 
heart ; and imagine themselves as good as God himself, or 
that God is like themselves — they have lost all natural 

on, and become reprobates. What adequate punish- 
ment do such realize? They feel less than the man who 
only occasionally sins, and retains a tender and scrupulous 
;ience. 
:*. The wicked generally commit sin for the sake of its 
pleasure and gratification; they even do the evil in prefer- 
tving it undone. The young seek the gay e ties 
Lshions of this world in pr< to the sober and 

Ynd in their imagination* 
ion of Christ, is to be guilty 
Ltirely 111 desirable happiness. This is the 
and spurn the gospel's joyful invi- 
tation to viriiie and piei\ : thc\ choose a career of sin and 



w 



110 THE PENALTY OF BIN. 

;-. Sin to them affords no restraining virtue to dolor 
from vice. Thus instead of sin being an adequate punish- 
ment of itself, and the most efficient motive to break off 
from iniquity, and practice piety, it affords the most power- 
ful encouragement to repel the truths of God and continue 
to tread the path of vice. " Because sentence is not speedily 
executed, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
set in them to do evil." The man who occasionally tipples 
becomes a confirmed sot; — the spendthrift who learns the 
art of gambling, soon becomes excessively fond of his wick- 
edness ; — the youth who are once initiated into the etiquette 
of reveling and the ball- chamber, are soon passionately 
fond and wholly enamored with their jovial scenes; — the 
occasionally profane man soon belches forth the most horrid 
vollies of bitter imprecations without any conscientious re- 
gret for his nefarious habit. All this is done and sought 
for, for the sake of pleasure and gratification, however base, 
grovelling and detestable. We ask the sober-minded and 
truth-loving — how then, in the name of heaven, can sin be 
its own punishment ? Echo answers, how? 

4. This view of punishment excludes the Savior and re- 
jects him as the Redeemer of man. This is not merely 
an inference drawn by ourself ; but is manifestly expressed 
in their own language. Read the following language of 
Mr. Fernald, who was of sufficient consequence in that 
denomination to become the author of a w r ork entitled 
" Universalism against Partialism ;" "Repentance will not 
absolve from the punishment of sins committed." "It 
never w T ill atone for what is past. If an individual sins, he 
has got to suffer for it the whole penalty of the law. There 
is no REMEDY for him. He may repent in dust and 
ashes ; but this will never satisfy justice for the sin he has 
committed. " By law he does not mean any thing else 
than the law of our understanding, and not the law of God ; 



:i \ at. i \ 0] 111 

and die legislator «>i" tins Law is out own conscience, and 
that law only is violated by the commission <»!' sin. In re- 
ference to this point Umer Kneeland says; "Tins law may 
he and often i-< transgressed bj the very acta through which 
the perfect la I is fulfilled" ( )i course we do sot 

believe that Repentance atones lor sin. but that it is an in- 
dispensable condition of Salvation. But when a man rejects 

repentance and ererj other remedy, docs he not a nnihil a 

in his opinion the Lord JesUfl as the Savior of man I \\ « 
ire inclined to judge thus, and we think justly too. 

The view of Uuiversalism which we shall notice in the 

is — 
3. That all punishment is emendatory ; or the most 
means to procure the final salvation of all man- 
kind. 

While Uuiversalism teaches that the sinner must be pun- 
ished for all his sins, and that there is no escape from this, 
it also proclaims to the world, that all the punishment of 
sin is corrective and reformatory to the punished. Indeed, 
the system is not stranger than the effort is useless, for any 
candid reasoner to reconcile the crude notions of this 
theory ; for at one time it is said that sin is its own punish- 
ment, and that where sin exists there misery and woe will 
be entailed — and then after all, that this very punishment 
is corrective, and the most efficient means in the divine 
plan to restore man to perfect holiness ; that sin, the great 
evil is upon the whole the destined, the only, the last, and 
most efficient remedy. The philosophy is, that the greatest 
curse is also the greatest blessing — that which is the foun- 
tain of the most distressing and fearful anguish, is also the 
spring of reviv • i i ! nr and most sublime happiness — that which 
is the most destmctivi i tin 1 most re- 

storing and healing. I' h philosophy! 

That such views arc requisite to their theory of punish- 



112 1 BS PENALTY OF 

meat i'or sin, we arc not inclined to dispute ; hut that they 
arc sound and philosophical, and worthy of the sanguine 
espousal of any theologian, we entertain the most sincere 
doubts. Indeed, they appear so puerile and unattended 
with any valid proof, that to us it is a stretch of credulity 
to believe that any man of sane mind can sincerely embrace 
and cherish them. 

But we wish to transcribe some testimony in order to 
prove, that Universalists do actually maintain the senti- 
ments we have attributed to them. We wish not to be found 
a false witness. 

Mr. E. H. Chapin, in a discourse preached at Richmond, 
Va., on Universalism, "What it is not, and what it is," 
holds the following language : " We do not believe, then, 
that punishment is vindictive, but that it is corrective— 
emendatory." "We look upon it as a means and not an 
end; and as we believe that good is an end which the Deity 
intends, we believe that it will be accomplished; and when 
it is accomplished, the means to that end being no longer 
required, will cease to exist." Here we have it asserted, 
that punishment is emendatory and that it is a means in 
the divine plan to compass the grand end of man's destina- 
tion, and when the ultimate good is attained, punishment 
together with the other means shall cease to exist. How 
far a Savior is consistent with this plan of salvation, we 
will submit to the candid reader for adjustment. 

Mr. Jason Lewis, m an epistle addressed to the clergy- 
men of the various christian sects, expresses himself in 
such language as this — "Punishment, from the hand of 
God, being paternal, therefore disciplinary, therefore reme- 
dial, the conclusion very naturally follows, that, at some 
time or other, when it shall have accomplished the object 
for which it was inflicted, it will come to an end." Again, 
he declares, "that God punishes mankind for their £ood ;" 



ill • : i'l \ \l. I \ 



:m ,l ..,li:ii Gdd chastens us 'for our profit,' and this profit 
. i„ becoming 'partakers of his holin< He is 

preserved in the expression of his opinion, thai all pun- 
is remedial, and thai the ultimate objecit, for which 
it ia instituted as a means, is to secure our holiness. There 
no distinction made in the administration of tfce govern- 
)\\ <>f (lod against sin. 

\. B. Grosh, who stands high in talent and influence in 
that fraternity in this Btate, in a pamphlet containing two 
etnres, preached and published at Utica, expresses hiin- 
• The sinner may be certainly and fully punished 
and ttfterwards receive the peaceable fruits of righteousness 
in immortal bliss. But no man can be crowned with God's 
m in immortality, and afterwards be punished. 
Hence the means, which is punishment or. damnation, 
mud always be put before and not limited by the end, 
Ivation." Again: " Universalists not only he- 
re all tte promises of God, but all his threatenings, and 
fearlessly that every one of his threatenings is ex- 
intended and put in force to fulfill his promises— 
that every penalty or punishment God inflicts on sinners, 
positive proof that he will save them from sin." 

1. In the opinion of this 'writer, a man may be fully 
punished for his sins and afterwards be saved. 

2. Punishment or damnation is the means to secure the 
end, which is the salvation of the soul. 

:*. Thai every threatening oi God put in force is in- 
tended to fulfill his promises, and all punishment of sin is 
a positive proof that he will save sinners from their sin. 

The position that a man may be fully punished for all 
his sin and afterwards he saved, is at least debateable 

.,i,id. if aol wholly and manifest} absurd. I am aw; 
th nt this i s 0] of Universalism, as weD as 

of Restorationism ; and that to demolish this, is virtual!) 



Ill THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

overturning their theory of the punishment of sin. The 
advocates of Universalis™ profess to believe, that the sin- 
ner will be punished for all that his sins deserve, and that 
there is no escape from this punishment ; and yet, that af- 
ter he has endured the punishment fully, his sins deserve, 
he shall be saved. But saved from what? Not from pun- 
ishment, damnation, or hell, for all this he has fully suffered ; 
but saved from sin. The prominent doctrine is, and all 
appear to be harmoniously agreed in this, that the sinner is 
not saved from deserved punishment but from his sins. Is 
this logical? Is it Scriptural? 

1. Saved from sin but not from punishment. Their doc- 
trine is, as we have seen, that sin and punishment are re- 
lated like cause and effect — sin is the cause and punishment 
is the effect. The sinner is saved from sin the cause, but 
he cannot be saved from the effect which is punishment. 
Pray, tell us, what will prevent the effect from following 
the cause, when the cause is removed ? The same power 
which shall remove the cause will effectually strike orft of 
existence the effect. When a whirlwind strikes upon the 
four corners of a house and scatters it into ruin, all the ef- 
fects of the house will cease to be by the same serial force. 
The power which should dash the sun out of existence 
would also extinguish the light of day. Therefore the par- 
don which delivers the sinner from his sins, will also save 
him from the punishment due to his sins, unless they assume 
the position that punishment precedes the commission of 
sin, and then they will be guilty of the philosophical absurd- 
ity, that the effect goes before the cause, and thus yield the 
argument, that sin and punishment are related as cause and 
effect — and also teach that God punishes man while he i> 
yet innocent; or else they must declare, that sin and pun- 
ishment take place at one and the same time, and end to- 
gether. Thus the cause would not exist prior to the effect. 



i 111. NBNALT1 

both oommence to exisJ a( the same time and i ether* 

It' this be true, then sin and retribution meet together in the 
same person and at the same time; and while the sinner 
commits sm, he is Baved from sin, and also damned or pun- 

.1 — thus salvation and damnation take place a1 the Millie 

time. Then Paul was in error when he spake of Christ 
as granting the "remission of sins thai arc past." 

But is it true, or is it unphilosophical, that punishment 

and sin begin, continue and end together! A robber may 
man with a club and kill him, the deed is done but 
the effect does not cease. A man may slander his neigh- 
bor, the evil is committed but the influence may be blasting 
and disastrous long subsequent. Thus a man may commit 
sm and the punishment may, yea, must exist subsequent to 
This is and will be the case when we deem pun- 
ishment to consist wholly in the misery which flows from 
sin as its cause; but we do not conceive the misery 
growing out of sin to constitute the sum and substance of 
adequate punishment. We believe that one essential and 
terrible ingredient in punishment, will be the penal and 
positive inflictions of the law of God. 

2. The sinner who receives all the punishment his sins 
deserve, cannot ''afterwards be saved." The Bible de- 
clares that " the wages of sin is death" — sin must first be 
committed before it can be punished, for the demerit of sin 
cannot be known or computed until after the wrong is per- 
petrated; therefore the act of sin must comprise a certain 
space of time, more or less extended, and the punishment 
of that sin a subsequent space of time. The one follows 
the other in succession. The argument is that the sinner 
is " certainly and fully punished 9 ' before lie receives the 
salvation of his soul. Then salvation transpires at a time 
distinctly subs< quent to the time of committing sin, and of 
enduring: punishment for that sin. Now if we shall be 



i'i.\ w.i Y OF 

able to show that a sinner under these circumstanc 
not be saved at all, then we shall have annihilated the ar- 
gument and routed the position As faith is a virtue and 
a condition of salvation, so unbelief is a sin and worthy of 
punishment ; and as long as a man remains an unbeliever 
so long he is liable to punishment; he cannot escape from 
it. The man therefore, in order to cease to be an unbeliev- 
er must become a believer, for so long as he continues an 
unbeliever he is guilty of sin and deserves punishment, 
which he must endure ; but he cannot be saved from the sin 
of unbelief so long as he endures the damnation and suf- 
fering for that sin, for the obvious and conclusive reason, 
that this would be a salvation before he had endured fully 
the punishment, the sin of unbelief deserves, as well as a 
salvation from deserved suffering — either of which is death 
to Universalism. Again; if the sinner must endure the 
condemnation and suffering his sins deserve before he can 
be saved, for all suffering must precede salvation; and so 
long as he continues to be a sinner he will deserve suffer- 
ing, and this wicked character he must sustain until he is 
reformed, therefore he must be reformed, and serve God 
with all his soul and powers while he is yet suffering for 
his past follies and sins ; thus be a sinner and a saint, a 
righteous and a wicked man, an innocent, a justified and 
guilty person at the same time, — all of which is the sum 
of absurdity. Who would risk his reputation for candor, 
while arguing that a man can endure all the suffering his 
sins deserve, and at the same time do sufficient to procure 
the favor of God and obey his righteous law, thus becom- 
ing a righteous person ? All this appears clear and decisive, 
if argument and logic are worthy of any consideration 
whatever. There is but one way of escape, and to that, 
recourse is had to assume the position that — 



i in ri.wi.i \ OV SIN. 

■ ' punishment or damnation is flu rati 

cure the end, which is the salvation of the soul. How 
'I and philosophical this argumi nt Is, a f< v. 
la will be sufficient to show, [f "punishment or dam- 
nation' 1 whi.-h is the means of securing the salvation of the 

a deliverance from sin, and all this suffi 
punishment is but the effect of sin, then we draw the con* 
elusion that the effect as means, has the power to destroy 
*e. [f the sin committed by man should entail 
upon him mental and corporeal suffering* and this suffering 
in turn should be so emendatory as the means to secure the 
I, which is salvation, and salvation can only be acquired 
bj from, or a remission of sin, we ask, does not 

thee//;,-/ annihilate its cause? Most assuredly. Well, 
must we depend on a doctrine SO ahsurd and unphiloso- 
phical as this, in order to secure the salvation of the soul ? 
We might well pray the Lord to deliver us from its tender- 
mercies. 
3. Moreover, what positive proof can we discover in any 
or all the inflictions of misery for sin, in the light of the 
above reasoning, that God will eventually without fail, res- 
tore us to final holiness and happiness ? Just none at all. 
\\ e may see the coruscations of divine vengeance and a 
clear foreboding of a terrible, final and endless doom. We 
entreat the reader to repent of sin and believe in Christ as 
the only Savior ; sue for pardoning mercy and the remis- 
sion of sin in the blood of Jesus, and a deliverance from 
curse of God, that you receive a new heart and not re- 
alize the punishment your sins have deserved. 

From the false position that all punishment is emenda- 
tory, and is introduced as ?necms to effect the salvation of 
soul, they assume another position, though naturally 
following from the former, yet equally fallacious. 



118 THE PENALTY OF 

4. That all punishment instead of vindicating the law 
and authority of God, is obviously designed to effect the 
sinner 's greatest good only. This, they say, is the absorb- 
ing object, the administration of the threatenings of God 
was designed to effect, and that this object alone is in con- 
sonance with the character of divine goodness. To be de- 
livered from the punishment sin deserves, would be the 
greatest calamity that could befall man while in this state of 
probation ; therefore all punishment instead of being a curse 
to man, as represented in the Bible, is man's greatest and 
most desirable blessing, as taught by Universalism. 

As we have no inclination for, or tact at misrepresenta- 
tion, and as we should fail of the object we aim at secur- 
ing, the overthrow of this destructive error and the estab- 
lishment of the truth; we wish to fortify the representations 
of the tenets of Universalism with its own undeniable tes- 
timonies, as drawn from the writings of its advocates. 
What language then do the champions of this system hold 
forth ? Let us begin with him who stands at the head of 
the army, and who is the alpha and omega of Univer- 
salism. 

Hosea Ballou holds the following language : " Now we 
know that it is not the nature of goodness to harm any 
creature, but to do good to all." * * * " That God 
will never administer any kind of affliction to any of his 
creatures, which is not designed for their benefit " When 
we should hear a minister take his text, and quote the lan- 
guage of Christ uttered in reference to the overthrow of 
Sodom ; and then announce to his audience, that he designed 
to illustrate the "Divine goodness in the destruction of the 
Sodomites and other sinners," we should have some ground 
on which to base a supposition, at least, that all the judg- 
ments of God were designed in the estimation of the 
preacher, for the benefit of the punished. In addition, 



r of am. 119 

e his hearers thus: " Why should our 

iffer any inconvenience from it .'" And should he 
matically exclaim in reference to the overthrow of the cities 
of the plain, "that God acted in this instant itently 

with his nature, which is love, and with his chs 
I ;•;" all doubt of the preacher's true position in rela- 
tion to the character and object O.f punishment would he 
swept away. Now this preacher is the identical I: 
Ballon. His views may be learned in his "Lecture Ser- 
mon* 

Mr. Sawyer declares that, "Universalists believe that all 

inflictions under the righteous administrations of God, are 

tied to benefit the punished. " " This is the end, the 

only • Universalists believe, for which God inflicts 

punishment. " 

Mr. Skinner remarks that, " Punishment, we have seen 
is corrective and limited. A remission of such a punish- 
ment would be a curse instead of a mercy, because a just 
punishment is as necessary to our welfare, as any thing 
that love can do." 

Mr. Williamson declares that, "From such a punish- 
ment, my position is, that man cannot escape, by any pos- 
sibility; and I may add that, were it possible, the escape 
ivould be a curse rather than a blessing, and man's rejoic- 
ing over it would be as ill-timed as those of a sick man, 
who should rejoice that he had, escaped the taking of a 
healing medicine," &c. "I repeat it again: sin is an evil, 
and punishment is a remedy, and it is a poor cause of joy, 
that we have escaped the Good Physician, ' who healeth all 
our diseases.' " 

We need not multiply quotations of this character, for 
the purpose of proving, that the representation we have 
made of the doctrine of punishment is genuine. For the 



120 in r. PENALTY 01 

mere statement of the doctrine would secure the acquies- 
of every intelligent Universalist. 

But to the soundness of the doctrine. From this we 
decidedly dissent, and would without hesitation record our 
unequivocal disapprobation, though we deem it not of suf- 
ficient importance to enter into any lengthy and regularly 
framed argument to controvert it. It appears to us that it 
would he a very difficult task, for us to induce a sick man 
to helieve, that the healing and efficacious medicine which 
proves to be an effectual remedy for his virulent malady, 
should be looked upon as severe and condign punishment. 
Yet this but illustrates the unpleasant task of a Universal- 
ist, that all punishment for sin is inflicted on the sinner for 
his benefit, and that a deliverance from punishment would 
be a curse and not a blessing. To us it appears beyond 
controversy, that either the punishment of sin is designed 
to vindicate the law and authority of God, and not to -effect 
the chief, personal, present and eternal good of the pun- 
ished; or else there is no such thing as punishment for sin. 
It requires but little acumen, for any one to see, that a doc- 
trine which maintains that to realize a deliverance from 
punishment is a curse, and would in fact be an escape from 
the Good Physician, 'who healeth all our diseases,' that 
such a doctrine sweeps with its besom of destruction the 
atonement of Christ from the catalogue of christian doc- 
trines. If punishment of sin is a blessing, affords a heal- 
ing remedy, and acts the. Good Physician, and presents the 
means of salvation, what need is there of an atonement of 
Christ and his spilt blood? Or was it impossible for God 
to punish man far sin without the sufferings, death and 
atonement of Christ? It is our province to show the fal- 
lacy and error of this speculative system, and leave the ad- 
justment and reconciliation of its crudities to those who 
stand forth before the world as its advocates — if the recon- 



1\. 

ciliation of absurditii not surmount the 

their phi! 

A wan! of discrimination and a false rule of i 

the truth, baa led to 
all this astounding error. When the Bible speaks of thi 
afflictions of the righteous, and thai all these will accom- 
plish good to those whose munis arc imbued with humility 
and gi pply all these declarations to the wicked, is 

a slander upon divine wisdom, a prostration of truth, and 
e of polluting and desolating falsehood. 
which the Almighty pronounces upon the 
• I are not declared to effect their good. When the 
<1 Bhall be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the p the Lord and his glorious power, then shall 

indicate his law and authority, and condemn the 
unrighteous to an everlasting overthrow — when God shall 
pour out his fury and anger upon the bloody and deceitful 
of men, they will not be the fury and anger of love ; 
hut the fearful manifestation of his vengeance and fiery in- 
dignation which shall devour the adversaries. 

Thus far we have been passing over the ground occupied 
and argued by Universalists, with the primary object in 
view, to show what Universalism is in reference to the doc- 
trine of punishment, as well as briefly to expose its fallacy 
and its worthlessness. We shall now proceed to investi- 
the doctrine of the punishment of sin as taught and 
supported by Scripture and reason. 

While we take up the subject positively, we shall scan 
the various features of punishment in succession, and pre- 
sent the orthodox \ i id as fully 
as our capacity shall enable us, 



122 THE PENALTY OF BIN. 

I. Divine punishment inflicted upon the wicked. 

1. The simple doctrine of punishment. We should 
possess some definite conception and a clear discernment 
of the primary meaning of the term punishment. This 
doctrine presupposes a Being who is clothed with the au- 
thority to inflict condign punishment — a subject upon whom 
it is inflicted — and adequate reason for administering pun- 
ishment — God inflicts, the wicked are the subjects, and the 
sins and iniquities of their lives afford sufficient occasion. 

The doctrine of punishment teaches that the sinner re- 
ceives a just and adequate infliction for his crimes ; having 
become a transgressor of the divine law in despite of good- 
ness, justice and truth, incurred the penalty of death, and 
consequently being doomed to suffer the condign inflictions 
of wrath. That Reason, after searching the natural govern- 
ment of God, and scanning the common affairs of life and di- 
vine providences, most readily accedes to the doctrine of 
the punishment of sin, is admitted without any disclaimer. 
This is also the unequivocal and positive language of sacred 
history and the revelation of God, from that dismal hour 
when the primordial pair first partook the forbidden fruit, 
down to the close of the apocalyptic visions. In the pun- 
ishment of sin, desolations have covered the face of nature, 
cites have been overwhelmed and become heaps of smol- 
dering ruins, governments subverted and nations rent asun- 
der and dispersed, their treasures pillaged, and their land 
made to reek with human gore* The scathing judgments 
of heaven have shaken the mountains, and filled the valley 3 
with lamentations and woe. Down the course of time the 
hand of God has reared monuments for our admonition, 
which speak in thunder- tones the plague of sin, and the just 
judgments of God against the perpetrators of crime. So 
various, minute and prominent have been the inflictions for 
crimes, in the dispensations of God, and the moral govern- 



men! of the world, th.it the most Stoical in heart, and skep- 
tical in faith, lack stupidity and indifference no1 to discern, 
and nerve to enter a bold denial of this doctrine. For even 
the teachings of reason are so lucid and convincing, thai the 
most degraded and depraved nations and kindreds of the 
earth, entertain some notions, more or less definite and 

it, o( merited punishment for crime. Whatever ar- 
gument and propriety reason may assign for such a con- 
nection between vice and its reward in this lite, reason 
does not ai i itself the province to show cause why 

such a state of thing's shall not exist hereafter. 

11. tin; OBJECT of just and adequate punishment. 

While Qniversalism teaches that all punishment is whol- 
ly reformatory, designed and always resulting in the highest 
ible good of the sufferer; orthodoxy declares that one 
of tin 1 chief objects, if not the most prominent, of all judi- 
cial inflictions is-^- 

1. To vindicate the moral government of God as con- 
sisting of laws which are inviolable. The laws of God en- 
joined upon his rational creatures constitute his moral 
government. This government is moral, because it claims 
the voluntary services of man and holds him responsible 
for all his activities. Every breach of divine law, of which 
man becomes guilty, and every departure from its holy re- 
quirements in affection and action, incurs its penalty. And 
in order to save his moral government from entire prostra- 
tion, inefficiency and total disregard on the part of the hu- 
man family, it is absolutely necessary for our Creator to 
subject the transgressor to its judicial inflictions. Only in 
this way can he sustain his government, and vindicate his 
character from the charge of insincerity, exclusive of a re- 
medial system of mercy. For it is well known that " Christ 
has become the end of the law for righteousness to every 



121 THE PENALTY OF sin. 

one that believeth;" therefore the believer shall be saved 
from the penalty of the law, and yet the moral government 
of God is sustained without the semblance of reproach ; but 
independent of this system of grace in Christ, the moral 
Governor of the Universe has seen an absolute nec< 
of punishing the guilty in order to show his rightful autho- 
rity and unswerving integrity. Should God not punish the 
guilty, his law would very soon lose its sanction and 
wholesome restraint, and his own character would be void 
of moral honesty and truth ; therefore the importance of 
vindicating his laws in inflicting merited punishment upon 
"every soul of man that doeth evil." 

How far does the Bible go to prove and uphold the de- 
claration, that the Almighty in the punishment of the wick- 
ed, vindicates his law and character — justifies his providen- 
tial dealings — establishes his righteousness before a gain- 
saying and rebellious world ? We read the following record 
of truth in Ps. li. 21 — 22. " These things thou hast done, 
and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I was altogether 
such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee and set 
them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this ye 
that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none 
to deliver." The w r ieked thought and concluded, because 
of the long- suffering of God, that they might trample under 
foot the divine laws of Jehovah with impunity. They 
were stupid enough to imagine that God regarded with the 
same feelings, the perverseness, depravity, and open viola- 
tion of truth by man, as they did themselves. And every 
successive display of divine goodness and forbearance, was 
unsuccessful in correcting such impious feelings and senti- 
ments, and only emboldened them to persist in sin with 
shameless audacity. Therefore the only alternative left,' 
was for God to take the work of judgment and punishment 
in hand, and thus reprove and set in order their case before 



i in. PENAL1 \ 01 

—only in this way could he vindicate hit divine 

authority, justk decisivi Ij th 

would at all hazards sustain his mo rnment Why 

did God threaten the inconsiderate, heedL bs, the 

Jit, with such a fearful overthrow, that he would tear 
them in pieces, and there should be none to deliver, if he 
did not in this summary way desi ibbor- 

of wrong, and pnove inc 
and authority of his law could not be sacrificed? He is 
righteously resolved to defend rrmenl and vindicate 

If from all slanderous aspersions, and prove that, tic is 
invariably governed by integrity, truth, holiness, justice, 
J i the world be damned. He will never save the 
world and pollute his throne, sacrifice his law and truth, 
and p -riiy. Indeed, if man is ever 

, tic mode of his s; hall never reflect an lin- 

iment on the character of God; sooner than this the 
storm of wrath shall sweep through the ample rounds of 
creation, and overwhelm the rebel throng beneath its press- 
ing waves. He will vindicate his law. 

We read another affecting declaration of what God will 
i prove that he is Jehovah over all the earth, in Ps, 
Ixxxin. 14—18, This Psalm is a prophetic prayer in re- 
ference to all such who are the enemies of the people of 
God ; they made war upon God's children in order to ex- 
terminate them and to take possession of the house of 
God — they were strong and confederate against the ways 
of the Lord : therefore the Psalmist prophetically pr 

the fire burnetii wood, and as the flame setteth the 
mountains on lire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and 
make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with 
shame ; that they may seek thy face, O Lord. Let them 
be confounded and troubled forever; yea, let them be put 
to shame and perish." Why all this affliction, and ruinous 



126 THE P MALTY OF SIN. 

tempest? For the sake of rendering the creature man mis- 
erable ? Not exactly so; but to show that God has no fel- 
lowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, and that by 
judgments and wrath he will teach the rebellious race that 
his character is holy, and that his law is just and right, and 
that his sceptre extends over the earth. He adds in the 
same Psalm, " That men may know that thou whose name 
alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth." 
Here then we have another example clearly teaching that 
the Almighty displays his vindictive wrath in the punish- 
ment and overthrow of the ungodly. As he has done so 
in the past, his doing the same in the future will be in strict 
accordance with himself. 

We shall give another instructive record in confirmation 
of our position, as brought to view in the history of Nebu- 
chadnezzar. It maybe read in Dan. iv. 25. "Till thou 
know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men 
and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Nebuchadnezzar, 
the king of Babylon, became proud and haughty, he forgot 
that the Most High was King of kings, ruling in the armies 
of heaven, and that his supreme authority extended over the 
habitable globe, therefore he grew up a royal sinner and 
the oppressor of the poor. The goodness of heaven did not 
humble his pride, nor did he acknowledge his dependence 
on the good pleasure and arm of the Arbiter of the I^ii- 
verse. He renounced all allegiance to the government of 
God, and imagined himself invested with the prerogatives 
of a god, therefore the Lord took his case in hand. To 
show the world that the haughty looks of man were con- 
temptible in his sight, and that he would crush all undue 
aspirations, and break the arm of oppression, he poured 
down upon the king of Babylon the vial of his wrath. He 
was driven out with the beast to crop the grass until seven 
years had rolled over his head ; and then he should ac- 



l hi PENALTY 1M7 

the moral dominion of God over the i 
\\ h, n the Ivi'i "i returned again, he lifted up hie 

to heaven as a man, and not downward lo the earth 
:is a beast, and he praised the God of heaven who liveth 
r and ever, "whose dominion is an everlasting do- 
minion, and hia kingdom is from generation to generation." 
The Almighty will make all his creatures sensible, that 

are under the control of his divine government, and 
thai an acknowledgment of the same shall be extorted, 
either by the subduing influences of kindness and mercy, 
or by the crushing weight of vindictive punishment Thus 
lie will fortify and defend the supremacy of his law; con- 
vincingly prove his sincerity, honor and justice; and that 
the glory and inviolability of his government are the most 
cts to be secured — the first and last, and that 
all other objects are subservient to these ends; these shall 
not fail though all others should prove abortions. But 
thanks be to God, thai he ran be just and yet the justifier 
of every soul that believeth in Christ ! 

Another object of just and adequate punishment is,— 

II. TO RENDER UNTO EVERY TRANSGRESSOR HIS DUE. 

The principle of distributive justice is fully incorporated 
with the doctrines of the Bible — He will render to every 
man his due. So plain and universal is the connection 
en vice or ill-deserving, and punishment, that no na- 
tion or kingdomis skeptical on this point. And so fami- 
liar is this truth, that it has assumed the form of a common 
proverb — vice is its own punisher. If well-doing has the 
promise of the present and future life, why shall not an un- 
godly deportment ensure tribulation and anguish? 

It is not our object to investigate at present, how much 

and how long punishment, the sinner has deserved, or can 

ve by living in sin; but to state and prove the fact 



rjU rivu/iv OF sin. 

merely that judicial intluiions for criinc are deserved by 

Am wicked, and that th< proper 

time, unless saved by faith in the blood of Christ. 

The wicked deserve punishment. So, a! least, the Bible 
expresses itself. " The wages of sin is death." Rom. vi. 
23. "Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him; for 
the reward of his hand shall be given him." Isa. iii. 11. 
The death and woe of the wicked are visited upon them, 
because they have deserved them as a reward. These are 
therefore just and adequate — such punishments are in ac- 
cordance with their demerit. Paul in speaking of God and 
the reward of the ungodly, says : " Who will render to 
every man according to his deeds : — unto them that are 
contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unright- 
eousness, indignation and wrath ; tribulation and anguish, 
upon every soul of man that doeth evil," &c. Rom. ii. 
6 — 9. Solomon, by the inspiration of God, says : " If thou 
sayest, Behold, we knew it not ; doth not he that ponder- 
eth the heart consider it ? and he that keepeth thy soul, 
doth not he know it ? and shall not he render to every man 
according to his w T orks ?" Prov. xxiv. 12. The prophet 
of the Lord speaks in this wise : " The Great, the Mighty 
God, the Lord of host, is his name, great in counsel, and 
mighty in work : for thine eyes are open upon all the ways 
of the sons of men ; to give every one according to his 
ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. xxxii. 
18, 19. The Saviour gives his sanction to the doctrine in 
the following language : " For the Son of man shall come 
in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels, and theK 
he shall reward every man according to his works." Mati 
xvi. 27. u And Behold, I come quickly; and my reward 
s with me, to give every man according as his work shall 
be." Rev. xxii. 12. 



i HI PEN \i ! \ 01 in. 

Ii would x « m anil to multiply quotations) when 

the truth of out position is bo undeniable] and bo rep< 

tde the subject of remark, in the volum< i don; 

and withal so generally favored with the cordial assent of 
ihe cajjdid and wise: but it appears, at times, that truth 
needs numberless confirmations to disperse the incredulity 
of man, and engrave its Lineaments upon his bewilder- 
ed heart. 

The punishment for sin is the reward of the wicked. It 

18 B debt contracted which must he paid, unless canceled by 

the blood of Christ, whose province it is "to heal all dis- 

and forgive all iniquities." Sinner ! dost thou not 

dn ad thy fearful doom ? Hark! the thunders mutter peals 

of sullen wrath along the lowering, gloomy horizon — the 

'cam with the arrows of legal death — the 
scowl o( woe 1 on wings of fevered air portends thy speedy 
ruin — and "art thou still secure and wilt thou still refuse 
to pray f" Thy Judge descends, his glittering sword un- 
sheathed, the marble breaks, the dead are raised, and all 
the land fears the wail of death ; and is thy forehead lined 
with brass and thy heart incased in steel, and dost thou 
vainly hope to stand in the Lord's avenging day? Thy 
due ! O sinner, thy due ! ! thou wilt sink to the depths of 
the dark abyss beneath the load of thy just reward — con- 
dign punishment for crime — hide thyself in the rock that 
is cleft for thee — for thee! — till the storm be overpast. 

.'*. To demonstrate to the righteous that in escaping the 
wrath to come, they avoided an urinal calamity. So in- 
credulous is the heart of man that, under certain influences, 
the plainest truths are doubted ; hut while the godly believed 
the sincerity of God in his threatenings, and ordered their 
lives accordingly, with a view to escape the doom of the 
impenitent, they arc now doubly convinced of the wisdom 
of their choice, and the virtue of religion. In the pum h- 



130 nit; PENALTY OF SIN. 

ment of the wicked, they discover real misery ; and in their 
own deliverance from this calamity, they realize a full com- 
pensation for all their toil, the opposition endured and re- 
proaches borne for the sake of the -gospel. Yea, the re- 
ward is so infinitely great, that it could be derived only 
from sovereign, unmerited grace. For the woe avoided 
and bliss secured, they praise God in cordial, hallowed 
strains. 

The next point to which we shall invite the attention of 
the reader, is, — 

III. The nature of punishment. 

We have noticed the doctrine of punishment simply con- 
sidered, and the object secured in the administration of con- 
dign punishment; now, in order to pursue the chain of ar- 
gument, and the full elucidation of the subject under con- 
sideration, it seems requisite to contemplate as briefly as it 
may be, the nature of this 'punishment. After Ave shall 
have passed through with this, we promise to enter upon 
the investigation of future punishment. 

1. The deprivation of eternal happiness. Punishment 
is not only positive, but also negative ; and one ingredient 
in the damnation of the soul, is the loss of that bliss which 
religion is adapted to secure. The Savior tells us that 
many will profess him, and pretend to prophesy in his 
name, and perform many wonderful works ; and for all 
this, they will claim an entrance into heaven; but upon 
this, Christ will profess that he never knew them, therefore 
he will say, "depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. " 
Matt. vii. 23. A departure from Christ, is nothing less 
than a loss of happiness, which shall be the portion of all 
who fail to do the will of God, and are consequently, 
worthily called the "workers of iniquity." We read in 
Matt. xxii. 13. "Bind him hand and foot, and take him 



nil- PENALTY OP -in. 181 

away, and caal him into outer dar] Here the 

gneal ■• \o\ "ii the wedding garment, was hurried out 

of the presence of the king and the banqueting chamber, 
deprived of and the s< 

qtiently his disappointmenl and loss wi ire great All 
this significantly teaches thai the wicked in their mil 
shall feel the loss of heavenly hliss. 

-•Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the p f the Lord and the glory of his pauh 

i. !). When those, who know not God and 
not his gospel, shall be driven from Christ and the 
enjoyment of his happiness, they must dwell in a very un- 
enviable state, and sustain a loss which human numbers 
never compute. A deprivation of Christ and glory. 

•J. The wicked shall suffer the natural consequences of 
their sins. In this respect vice will inflict punishment 
upon the criminal ; there is a close and inseparable connec- 
tion between vice and misery. The man who is conscious 
of iruilt must feel the throbbings of sorrow and internal an- 
guish; shame and confusion must at times overwhelm his 
soul, while scanning his account before his Judge. The 
moral sensibility of man cannot be eternally bribed, its 
smothered voice will suddenly awake amid the rattling 
thunders of the judgment-day, and sting the soul with scor- 
pion pain. In the spirit-world, he shall no more be sur- 
rounded with scenes of diversion, and devote the hours to 
dullness and sleep, and thus prevent earnest reflection; but 
• (1 in their most heinous garb, and 
the reflective ; I mind shall move with lightning 

speed, and grasp the whole. In view of mercies slighted 
and sins trifled with, an irrevocable injury to the immortal 
soul will he experii 

In all this shall dwell the "worm thai dieth not and the 
quenchless fires.' 1 The inflamed passions shall no more 



189 THE PENALTY or BIN. 

Unci congenial elements, for the "forager things have passed 
away;" whence they will be the more enraged and n 

The mind shall rove upon the past and hound upon the fu- 
ture in wild amazement and horror; the hase transactions 
of the past shall roll in filthy surges upon the memo; 
the dismal apprehensions of the future shall send the ilash 
of fury across the dark abyss. Neither towering heights 
shall transcend the lashing waves of infuriated crimes, nor 
the deepest caverns secrete the victims of the natural pun- 
ishment of sin. Wherever they go, there is hell. This 
will be a bitter ingredient in the cup of woe. 

3. The punishment of the wicked shall also be positive. 
By this is meant, that the wicked will realize more misery 
than what grows out of sin as a natural result; that pun- 
ishment for sin will in a great measure depend upon the 
will of the Lawgiver. Not only were the ancient nations 
so deeply impressed with this idea as that it constituted the 
authority and force of all their appeals to deter from vice ; 
but the notion has become so common as to be interwoven 
with all the common legal and judicial transactions of civil 
government. The chief ingredients of punishment for 
crime depend on the will of the legislator or judiciary. Is 
this not a living element in the moral government of God ? 

Without this aspect of deserved punishment, but few of 
the ungodly would forsake sin, repent and humble them- 
selves under the mighty hand of God. The natural effects 
of sin exercise but a trifling influence to control the hearts 
of a majority of the wicked. Many commit sin for its 
mere gratification, and are only induced to desist by the 
threatening of positive punishment. 

Almost all the threatenings of God intimate and teach the 
doctrine of positive punishment. In Matt. x. 28. " But 
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body 
in hell." Cicero used to say, (deos non nocere,) " the* gods 



1 III ITN \l I \ OF l\ 1 33 

do not punish;" and this would l»r the teaching of the Bi- 
ble, if all punishment depended on the natural 
of sin. Hut Christ, in whose lipa there was no guile f de- 
nial God possessed power to destroy both soul and 
body in hell — this ( rod, we should, therefore fear ; and on ak 
off from siu and injustice. This same doctrine of positive 
punishment is taughi in a great number of pafi Holy 

Writ. 

The teaching of the contrary doctrine has always been 
attended with the greatest mischief to morals and religion, 
in all ages of tin 4 world. When Papacy prevailed in un- 
limited power,* and in its greatest corruption, then the flood- 
in and depravity were opened through the sale of 
indulgences. From the pope to the most illiterate and de- 
luded follower of Catholicism, all lay weltering in filth and 
crime. No less deplorable was the state of things in the 
infidel era of France, while Voltaire, Diderot and their co- 
adjutors, were with zeal, activity and boldness, employed to 
disseminate their perverted notions of truth and their mali- 
cious speculations upon the Bible. When all positive pun- 
ishments were discarded, and man's future destiny denied; 
then immoralities and every species of vice took a wide and 
desolating sweep over the morals of the people. There 
was no opposing barrier, nor restraining influence to check 
the foul inclinations of the heart, and the infernal machina- 
tions of an inflated pride. It is so in every nation, city and 
neighborhood, where the restraining influences of positive 
future punishment are discarded. The corrupt heart of 
man will find its congenial elements in vice and scenes of 
iichery. Every community is therefore the gainer in 
morals and religion, where the doctrine of future positive 
Ishment, has lull scope, in popular instruction, to exert 
its restraining influence upon the public mind. For this 
reason, if for no other, the positive nature of punishment 



13-1 THE PENALTY OF BIN* 

should not be suppressed in public preaching. Shun not 
to deelare the whole counsel of (Jod, whether men will 
hear, or forbear. 

IV. Future punishment. 

There are but few, comparatively speaking, who reject 
the doctrine of future punishment and advocate the doctrine 
that all punishment for sin is strictly confined to this pre- 
sent world. Among that class of religionists who have re- 
ceived the appellation of Universalists, there are some who 
maintain that there will be future punishment, nevertlu -I 
limited in its duration; and others who entertain scruples 
and doubts on the subject, fearing its probability and shrink- 
ing from a denial of the doctrine : so that but a small mi- 
nority of those who found their religious faith on the Bible 
are possessed of the temerity to utterly and unreservedly 
reject this religious tenet. However many fondly wish 
and make attempts to prove, at least in popular instruction, 
that the doctrine is nothing more than a chimera of the en- 
thusiast. We repeat again that the great proportion of 
Christendom, together with nearly all, if not all, of ancient 
and modern heathen nations, who were favored only with 
the lamp of nature and reason, have openly believed the 
doctrine of punishment beyond death. Therefore in this 
discussion we stand on the faith of the world, which affords, 
to say the least, a presumptive proof of the doctrine ; and 
as we pass through with the argument we shall show the 
fallacy, from reason and Scripture, that all punishments are 
confined to this life ; and maintain that punishment for sin 
will extend into the future world. 

1. Without future punishment God cannot justify his 
providential dealings. It would seem that the most care- 
less observer must be fully convinced, that in this world 
there is an unequal distribution of rewards and punish* 



i ii i it\ 135 

— thai the wicked often suffer less than the righ 
during the journey of life. There are number] 
oeeuring on the theatre of time, in which the justice 
impartiality of God's would be liable to im- 

peachment Look at the hon i1 Job, 

enduring ever) providences, in prop 

in family and in his person; while the <ri< 
accumulated wealth, and enjoyed with unruffled composure 

the social circle of friends, reproaching the servant of God 
for his hypocritical pretensions to piety. While Paul, die 
great apostle of the Gentiles, was toiling* preaching the 

I to the outcast, with fatigue and amid peril, in poverty 
and want, in hunger and distress of soul, braving the stormy 

ind enduring tin 1 malignant persecutions of those he 
i, in prison, chains and death, lor the sake of 

ispel, virtue and religion ; the haughty and Wicked of 
the earth, fearless of God and man, were applauded for 
bravery and decked with regal honors, pursued their 
wonted course of life in peace, with tranquil days and 
nights, gratifying their appetite with well-served viands, and 
their unhallowed passions with every sinful indulgence. 
The Waldenses in the valley of Piedmont, lived in liumhle 

■s, worshiped the God of heaven around their own 
des, educated their children in hahits of industry, hon- 

and economy, instilled into the tender emotions of 
mind the bland spirit of Christ and the holy principles of 
virtue and religion, training them up for the church, for 
Christ and for heaven; thus in peaceful retirement they 
lived as the inofFensi and servants of God. They 

tilled the glebe and eat their food with thankful hearts. 
Their own industrious hands procured the raiment they 
But lo ! tie' thered around in threatening 

• and menaced a sudden and tumultuous cessation to 
all their earthly enjoyments and pleasing prospects. The 
6 



13G THE PENALTY 01 

storm of bloody persecution thundering along the mountain 
side, poured the infernal yells of war and death through all 
the land. Human monsters seized the praying sire upon 

his knees in humble supplication to God for grace, and 
with the glittering scimitar severed his head from his should 
ders. They pillaged the house of God of all his pious fol- 
lowers, and dragged them to the burning stake, and there 
mingled their bones with the ashes of the faggot-pile ; while 
others were broken on the wheel, tormented till life expired 
and the soul was conveyed to mansions of bliss. Innocent 
children and defenceless women were made the subjects of 
infernal malice, and were obliged to drink the cup, mixed 
with the gall and wormwood of adversity. After all this 
rage of persecution and shameless atrocities, the pampered 
priests, at whose word all these things were done, were 
permitted to receive the highest civilities of life, and parade 
in flowing gowns and decked with tinsels, live in splendor, 
revel jn palaces and exult over the weltering victims of 
Piedmont. If the wicked receive all the punishment their 
sins deserve within the limits of their mundane existence, 
how shall we justify the rectitude of God in such dispen- 
sations ? 

Thus while piety and virtue are unrewarded, profligacy 
and crime go unpunished and oft confer upon their votaries 
affluence, pomp, applause and luxurious ease ; while inno- 
cence and rectitude are left unprotected, hypocrisy and vice 
are elevated to posts of honor and responsibility — the crim- 
inal passes along with impunity, and knaves are made the 
guardians of public weal, while men of uprightness are cen- 
sured and doomed to infamy and wrong. In all this state 
of affairs under the moral government of God, we cannot 
tell who is punished — what crimes — how great the desert 
of sin — nor whether the ends of the divine government are 
attained. The righteous suffer as much and at times more 



mi. n:\.\i rv OF BIN. 18? 

than the wicked, therefore upon the ground of no future 
punishment, for aught we understand, virtue and religion 
are followed with a poor reward; while nee and irreligion 
crowned with all (he comforts, honors and tranquil- 
lity of earth. The dealings of providence do not vindi- 

die justice and moral government of God, lor the 

Buffer as well as the wicked; nor do they 

the reformation of the wicked for many of them - 
worse and worse," adding crime of the deepest dye to 
crime; therefore all the arrangements of the divine gov- 
ernment arc a perplexing and an inexplicable riddle. 

Under this \iew of the subject the greater the sinner the 

us punishment. His conscience becomes callous, his 

as blunted, his energies nerveless and his very 

soul steeped in the font of stnpifying crime. His remorse 

is slight and his sorrows arc like the waters poured upon 

ick — lie feels not as other men in regard to sin, the 

importance of religion, death and eternity. 

But carry out the doctrine of future punishment and all 
God's providential dealings are justified. The men covered 
with inglorious obscurity shall come forth — the knave de- 
throned — the hypocrite unmasked and the upright honored 
— the pious rewarded and the wicked damned. 

That which is lacking in the rewards of the pious in this 
life will be completed hereafter, while the tyrant and the 
oppressor, the profligate and the despiser of God, shall re- 
a just and adequate doom in the future administra- 
tion of the moral government of the Almighty. There all 
difficulties will he solved, all incongruities harmonized, and 
all the ways of God displayed in beauty, perfection and 
consul] isdom, before the gaze of the assembled 

universe. 

2. Without fm umy of the tricked would 

dude judicial inflictions for all that their sins deserve. 



138 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

If we shall be able to show, that sins are committed for 

which the perpetrator receives no adequate punishment, 
then we shall advance a strong argument to prove the ne- 
cessity of future punishment; since, indeed, the Univer- 
salis! professes to believe, that the sinner must Buffer all 
that his sins deserve. We state, that some sins cannot be 
punished in this life. Drunkenness is a sin against God 
and against the physical laws of nature. The man addicted 
to this vice, visits the grogshop, drinks, gambles and blas- 
phemes — he spends the midnight hour in his frolicksome 
glee, and reels and drinks ; when, alas ! the vital laws of 
life receive a sudden, fatal shock from an apoplectic fit, and 
he sinks into the cold embrace of death. It was sin that 
led him on, benumbed his moral and mental powers, and 
poured the chilling oaths from his lips, quivering with the 
last gasp of breath. Where is he punished for his last 
crime ? Another seeks the dark and dismal retreats of the 
earth, and searches for his prey in the watches of the night. 
He meets his fellow clay, he points his pistol and demands 
his purse, or life is forfeited — at that moment, in self-de- 
fence, the dagger pierces his murderous heart; he sinks a 
lifeless corpse. Where does retributive justice mete out 
his reward? His crime was as great and as black, in God's 
account, as though his pistol had drunk his brother's blood. 
The third has no reverent thoughts of God in his heart, 
and through pride he elevates himself above every thing 
that is holy — his soul has become a sink of sin, and from his 
lips, as the volcanic lava, flow horrid blasphemies — he 
curses the soul of man, the oracles of truth, and the resur- 
rection-morn : he blasphemes the God that made him and 
defies the Omnipotent arm to battle. No sooner done, than 
the surcharged cloud sends the electric fluid, that smites 
him to the ground. He dies with imprecations on his 
tongue ; where is he punished all his crime deserves ? 



The man who usurps authority over Lis own life, and 
his soul into the presence of his God by the 
suicide, does he receive a just and adequate punishmeni for 
nil his sins deserve on this side eternity ' Where and 

punishment I Does the [Jniv< rsalisl say, with an air 
of contempt, none but in 

cide I This needs \>Yi)<)\\ and above alt, the insane man 
who commits the act, may havi >ned his insanity by 

BOme Other violations of right, or justice, therefore 1 1 1 ( ^ 

crime stands in its native and unmitigated character. 

[f we could -show that but a single sin were unpunished 
in this life, it would argue the necessity and certainty of 
future punishment; but since numberless cases occur, where 
the wicked cannot possibly realize condign punishment in 
this life, therefore there is in reserve a just and adequate 
punishment for the ungodly w r ho die with sins unforgiven, 
and are unreconciled to their Creator. 

But the caviler may try to elude the force of the forego- 
ing reasoning, by saying, that his belief is, that the act of 
sin and the misery of punishment take place at one and the 
same time. Let us sift the soundness of this philosophy. 
The act of sin supposes a time in which it was committed, 
and the punishment of sin also ; and as the punishment of 
sin could not exist prior to the commission of sin, — for then 
the innocent would suffer as though they were guilty, which 
would reflect injustice on the administration of the Creator 
— therefore, if the doctrine be true, punishment must begin 
at the very point in which sin began to exist and both end 
her — yea, that sin is punished by itself, and thatpenal 
inflictions have no part in punishment. Suppose a man 
does wrong, as Paul did, and yet thinks that lie docs God 
service; but afterwards becomes convinced of his error, 
and obtains forgiveness because he did it ignorantly in un- 
belief. Where and what is bis punishment-? Did it take 



140 HIE PENALTY OF BIN. 

place at the time, wrong was perpetrated, and consist in the 
44 terrible compunctions of conscience/' when at that time 
he had a pleasing satisfaction that he had done right, and 
felt no sorrow, regret, or inconvenience from the act ? But 
at a time, perhaps years subsequent, when he became con- 
vinced of his error, he felt stinging remorse for his wrong 
doing, and exercised a godly sorrow for the act. This is 
notj an improbable case, but only one among a thousand. 
It is sufficient to show the fallacy of the above position. 
But how many pamper their lusts, feed their basest pas- 
sions, cut loose from every moral restraint, flaunt along on 
the theatre of fashion ; and all this, to drink the cup of 
pleasure. Vice to them affords more gratification than the 
practice of virtue — profane language than the solemn 
voice of prayer — the promotion of ungodliness and irre- 
ligion than the prevalence of vital religion. Not only 
do they find more comfort in pursuits which heaven disap- 
proves than in those things which God approbates : but 
even in the act of sin, they realize more pleasure than the 
pain and misery of punishment, so that, upon the whole, 
they prefer folly to virtue. These are stubborn facts and 
cannot be caviled away. If so, where shall we find pun- 
ishment just and adequate for crime ? Verily, not at the 
time of sin, nor in its consequences. 

This position of Universalism is sufficient to encourage 
the wicked in the grossest immoralities of a fallen world ; 
it stimulates to the most barbarous atrocities, as well as to 
the most fashionable modes of sin and reveling ; therefore 
it cannot consist with truth and the arrangements of God. 
Even all the benefits Universalism promises, namely, to re- 
form and ennoble human nature, are frustrated through the 
influence of this doctrine alone. And where can we con- 
coct a speculative principle more ruinous and sweeping in 
its career than this ? It repeals all civil and divine law. 



. \i.r\ 01 Nl 

ted for the government and punishment of man. It 
annihilates all civil and judicial tribunals* or braada them 
as unjust and useless. It criminates the dealings of God 
in punishing the vile, ovt rturning - burning i 

ami deluging the world, in tearing up and throwing down 
t\\c conspiracies of giant men, if all punishment grows out 
of ami only lives during tin* act of sin, li brands tin- for- 
bearance and long suffering ^i God, in executing his threat- 
enings, with hollow-heartedness ; for so soon as the 

sm is past, all occasion for punishment has transpired. 
•11 his threatenings are a sham, a pretence too base to 
be attributed to the holy God of heaven and earth. Who 
then can accede to such monstrous positions, or be per- 
suaded by such fallacious reasoning? 

It' it be false, that sin and punishment begin and end to- 
il the suicide, the murdering robber murdered, 
the avenged plasphemer, and the dying drunkard, must re- 
ceive an adequate punishment subsequent to the extinction 
of life. Yea, the Bible teaches that all who die, impenitent 
and unforgiven, must suffer the penal inflictions of God in 
the future state. 

Others wish to press natural death into the service of in- 
flicting punishment for sin, or that death is punishment for 
sin, in order to evade the necessity of future punishment. 
We are sensible that the errorist will grasp for a shadow, 
in order to save a sinking cause — he will jumble together 
the most obvious incongruities. Let us place a few of their 
doctrines in juxta-position, with a view to show their utte 
lity to each other and the impossibility of their recon- 
ciliation. Universalism teaches that all punishment grows 
out of sin, and ceases with the act of sinning — they begin and 
end together; and that punishment originates from no other 
source than from sin, it lives and moves in this alone; there- 
fore there is no positive punishment inflicted by God. 



*** TBX PENALTY OF 

ttniversalism teaches that natural death does not result from 
sin, but that man was originally created mortal. Yet when 
the circumstances of the death of the wicked, are such as 
to preclude the possibility of their receiving adequate pun- 
ishment for sin, and consequently a stern necessity exists 
for future punishment; natural death is talked of as 'the just 
punishment of crime; when, at the same time, punishment 
is the result of sin, and natural death is not only, not the 
effect of sin, but dependent wholly on God for existence. 
How then can death natural, be the punishment of the sui- 
cide and others? The natural consequences 'of sin are 
combined in punishment, and while natural death is no re- 
sult of sin, how can it form an ingredient in punishment, or 
constitute the whole of the punishment of certain sins ? 

Indeed, if natural death be punishment, then the right- 
eous and innocent children, suffer the same misery the sui- 
cide does— yea, even more ; while the former endure pro- 
tracted illness, pain and spasms ; the latter from health 
passes through death in a moment. The loss of life is no 
greater sacrifice to the villain, if there is no future punish- 
ment, than to Paul, or Peter. Verily, instead of a loss and 
punishment for crime, death itself becomes his infinite gain; 
for by death he is delivered from a world of sorrow and 
sin, and introduced into the regions of holiness, and perfect 
beauty and joy. 

Reason affords another powerful and conclusive argu- 
ment in favor of the necessity of future punishment, in 
order that the sinner may reap all his sins deserve. Rea- 
son teaches us that the works and influence of men do not 
cease at death. The labors of Paul, of Peter, of a Luther 
and a Melancthon, of a Wesley and a Whitefield, and other 
blessed advocates of gospel truth, are still felt in the world 
for good— their influence and works move forward, on the 
broad platform of time, with a rising, spreading glory. The 



m n n i\. i (3 

pious effusions of a and the parabolic labors 

notified to the hearts. of many, while their 
i have mingled with the dust, shall the) lose their 
- no ; and this is a declaration which 
will find an approving response in every upright heart 

where are the labors and influence, scattered upon 
the rapid wings of time, of a \ oltaire, a Diderot, ;i Hume 
:t Bolingbroke, a Gibbon, a Paine, and a Robespii 
Have they all ceased, and been rocked into inactivity in 
their mouldering graves ! Has their blasting influence been 
abed by the chilling doctrine they advocated I While, 
like the Arabian sirocco, their labor and pamphleteering 
red the joys o[ religion, the saving virtue of the man 
Ivary, and produced spasmodic death to every thing 
. and heavenly over which they exerted a controlling 
influence. Like the millstone dropped from the cloud into 
the sea, after it is ingulfed and li< - inactive in the hidden 
sand, the circular waves move onward till they dash against 
the rock-hound coast and the pehbled beach ; so with the infi- 
del band in the moral world. After their bodies lie motionless 
in the marbled sepulchre, their books and productions are 
thrown broad-cast over the land, to wither, pollute and des- 
troy. Where does the first and chief responsibility of all 
this rest? If on these men, how shall they be justly and 
adequately punished for all the sins to which they are ac- 
provided there be no future punishment? The 
:es up — the chilling, heart-rending voice — from 
. ;!v, village, hamlet, neighborhood, 
from the mountain heights, iiie prairie 

plain, the g brook, the dens and caves, wh< 

hooks have been and are found, and their influence 
felt, that pi me upon their heart and head, and 

ndi the future as the only suitable harvest-field for 
to reap the due reward of their d< l 



144 i m: PENALTY or BIN. 

3. The promptings of conscience in all ages and am 
all nations, afford a presumptive proof, thai there will be 

a future punishment. That a belief of future rewards and 
punishments exists among all nations and kindred of the 
earth, and is proclaimed by loud profession, by heathen 
rites and ceremonies, is so evident as to challenge a denial ; 
and that it originates mainly, among those unblest with re- 
velation, in the teachings of conscience, is more than prob- 
able. If there be, therefore, no future punishment, why 
is the soul so constructed, that in its candid reflections and 
soliloquizing, it speaks so earnestly and demands attention 
to this subject — and that too, at times, under a heavy pres- 
sure of external corruption and degradation ? The answer 
is spoken in every heart; why follow its dictates. It will 
assign the true reason, why Belshazzar, in the midst of fes- 
tivity and his royal banquet, turned pale and his knees 
smote together. He was conscious of his wickedness and 
sacrilege in polluting the vessels of the Lord, and he dread- 
ed to meet a just and holy God. Tiberius, the Roman 
emperor,- — Antiochus Epiphanes, the destroyer of Jerusa- 
lem and of the people of Israel, — Herod, the tyrant who 
butchered the infants of Bethlehem,— Ch a rles IX. who or- 
dered and assisted in the bloody massacre of Bartholomew, 
all lived and died, distracted with horrid feelings and the 
dark forebodings of the future. 
The poet has truly said : 

" Conscience, the torturer of the soul, unseen, 
Does fiercely brandish a sharp scourge within. 
Severe decrees may keep our tongues in awe, 
But to our thoughts, what edict can give law V 9 

4. The Scriptures most evidently teach the doctrine of 
future punishment. 



PI \ \l IV <»l II.) 

We appeal to the word and testimony of <;<>d for proof 

o!" this doctrine, stud we think, that ;< caadid .- 1 r 1 < I careful in- 

itiou of this subject will he sufficient to convince the 

incredulous, it' but d.siroiis to know the truth : 

undeceive tin 1 most deluded, if the) have any inclination to 

he led into the ways of inn- religion. \\ e shall 
a brief rt corci of 

I. The firms and figures employed. 

We shall find that the Scriptures make use of tin- follow- 
ing words to describe the state of the dead- and the punish- 
ment of the wicked, viz: Shepl, Hades, Gehenna, and Tar- 

. Tin; term Sheol, which is Hebrew, is always trans- 
Hadee in the Septuagint, wliich is a Greek version of 

>ld Testament By those two words, the ancients al- 
wished to describe the state of the dead, and the 
Scriptures the spirit-world* They were not used in their 
proper sense to describe the grave; but the unseen and in- 
visible world. Plutarch describes Hades as a place that 

dark, ivhere one sees nothing ; and Plato designates it 
as the invisible world. This place had two departments, 
the one, the residence of the hero and the virtuous, where 
they enjoyed the reward of happiness ; and the other, the 
place of the profligate, the cruel and the wicked, enduring 
punishment, remorse and pain. In this sense, and asso- 
ciated witli figurative language, the terms are most gen- 
erally used in the Scriptures. Perhaps one of the most 
remarkable instances may he found recorded in Luke xvi. 
23 — 20, where we have a description of the rich man and 
Lazarus. The poor man died and was conveyed by angels 
into the spirit-world, and reclined on Abraham's bosom ; 
the rich man gave up the ghost and found himself in the 
spirit-world, lifting up his eyes and being in torment. In 
this spirit- world or Hades, they were separated by an im- 
passable gulf, the one comforted and the other in pain and 
torment. 



1 16 THE PENALTY OF 

We have another instance, where Hades not only clearly 
means the place of departed spirits, hut is distinguished 
from the grave. Aets ii. 31. "Seeing beforehand, ho 

spake of the resurrection of Christ, that he would not leave 
his soul in hell, (Hades,) neither did his flesh see corrup- 
tion. " His flesh was not in Hades, but in the grave ; his 
soul, the rational and immortal part went to Hades, and at 
the resurrection was re-united to the body. 

Therefore the terms Hades and Sheol, meaning the place 
of departed spirits, do not decide the state and condition of 
the soul, unless they have associated with them language 
expressive of bliss or woe, pleasure or pain. When souls 
depart to Sheol or Hades having formed a character that is 
virtuous, religious, godly, or vicious, impious, and ungodly, 
these qualifications will determine whether they have gone 
into Abraham's bosom or God's kingdom, or are doomed 
to w r oe. Thus Ps. ix. 17, where those persons and na- 
tions who disregard and forget the Creator are said, ".to be 
turned into hell," or Hades, must receive their portion with 
the blood-guilty in the pains of hell. 

The more usual terms to describe the place of happiness, 
are " the kingdom of God or of heaven" — " everlasting or 
eternal life" — "heaven" — "glory" — "my Father's house," 
&c. Those to describe the place of woe and hell, are 
"Gehenna," "Gehenna of fire," "Tartarus," &c. The 
term Gehenna is most frequently used to describe the place 
of torment and the punishment of the damned. So far as 
we have investigated the use of the word, it has always as- 
sociated with it, pain and misery, and is employed by 
Christ most frequently to describe the punishment of the 
wicked. Words descriptive of the nature of Gehenna con- 
nected with its use are employed; such as "fire" (pur,) 
or "fire that is quenchless," (pur to asbeston or puri as- 
besto,) or " where the worm dieth not and the fire is not 
quenched," &c. 



I in. PJ NALTY O] II I 

The literal meaning of the word Gehenna is, the "valle) 
of Hinnom," situated south of Jerusalem, ©nee celeb 
lor the horrid worship of Moloch, and aft rwards polluted 
with i ries of filth, as well as the ci >f ani- 

mals, and dead bodies of malefactors \ to consume which, 
in order to avert the pestilence which such a m; 
ruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning; 
i the fitness of the word to describe the place of hell, 
its pain, its punishment and its horrid wretchedness. 
Whenever the term was employed by Christ, it did not 
i literal application to the " valley of Hinnom;" but 
to the place of torment and punishment unto which the 
wicked are destined, for the Savior threatened the people 
with the destruction of the soul as well as the body, which 
could not conic to pass in the literal valley of Hinnom. A 
place so horrible, revolting and filthy, is a picture graphi- 
cally descriptive of hell, and must impress upon the mind 
of the candid and reflecting, a horrid idea of what hell is, 
and shall be to all those who deny the Lord that bought 
them. We may rest assured of one thing, that the Savior 
did not make use of these words and phrases as rhetorical 
flourishes, for euphony and sound, but for some em- 
phatic meaning, awfully descriptive of the state to which 
the wicked are doomed. 

We shall find other terms employed in the New Testa- 
ment, and such figures as are taken from death, tortures, 
prisons and darkness ; in using such images and terms, it 
was the design of the sacred writers to impress upon the 
reader, that there was something terrible and fearful in the 
punishments of the wicked, which would awaken feelings 
of distress, and of insufferable anguish in them. The fol- 
lowing are some of the literal and figurative names of the 
punishment of the , — "everlasting destruction," 

(olethros aionios,) ik the wrath to come," (mellouses orges,) 



MR iiik PENALTY 01 sin. 

"everlasting punishment," (kolaais aionios.) Also ?death," 
"the second death," "the blackness 6f darkness," "the 
worm which dieth not," "to go from God," "having n< 
day or night," " eternal condemnation," (krimatos aioniou.) 
We barely mention these terms in this connection; they 
will come up for remark hereafter, when we shall enlarge 
on the passages wherein they are found. We venture to 
say, no man of candor will have the presumption to deny, 
that, the terms and figures of speech, we have quoted, are 
relevant to prove the doctrine of punishment; but the only 
point at issue will be whether they teach future and eternal 
punishment. 

2. The Scriptures associate a place with the punishment 
of the. wicked. If the Scriptures assert that hell has a lo- 
cality, then it must be in the future world, for if all punish- 
ment is confined to this world, it can have no fixed locality. 
Upon the theory, that all punishment sin deserves must be 
visited on the wicked in this life, then wherever the sinner 
is, there punishment will be — traveling from place to place ; 
but if hell has a locality, then punishment awaits the wick- 
ed when they arrive there. A few passages will settle this 
point. 

" The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the na- 
tions that forget God." Ps. ix. 17. If a man's consci- 
ence be hell, then the text asserts an untruth, for it is im- 
possible to turn a man into his conscience, much less all 
the nations that forget God. If hell means the punishment 
due to sin, and that this punishment is confined to the pre- 
sent world, and during a man's natural life, then the wick- 
ed and the nations that forget God cannot be turned into 
hell, for they are in hell already and have been ever since 
they sinned against God. Mr. Ballou says : " When and 
where we are sinful, then and there we are our oivn tor- 
mentors" Mr. Whittemore says : "That sin £oes hand 



in hand with woe throughout its whole duration ; dial it h 
helL" Thus we learn th.it all the wicked are dread) 
in hell, and cannot, and need no1 be turned into hell, according 
to the doctrine of the apostles of I oiversalism, though il 
be m stern conflict with the teaching of God. Now, which 
doctrine is correct? — thai which the Bible tenches, that all the 
wicked shall he turned into IkIL which implies that they 
are not yet in hell ? or, Qnivcrsalism, which declares 
'// is lull, and when and where the wicked sin then 
and there they are in hdl? Is it not the doctrine of the 
Bible, which teaches that hell has a locality into which all 
the wicked shall he cast? Let the candid judge. 

" In bell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth 
Abraham alar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Luke xvi. 
89. This man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, 
and fared sumptuously every day, could not have been in 
hell every day, in his palace, in the banqueting chamber 
and in the hall of timbrel and music; for then his heart was 
occupied with pleasure and with the "good things of life," 
but now he lifted up his eyes, "being in torments." This 
hell had a locality into which he entered after his death, 
and from which place he gazed across the impassable gulf 
upon the place where Lazarus was in the bosom of Abra- 
ham ; that is, reclining, and enjoying the glory of God, next 
in rank to father Abraham. Though poor and despised 
on earth, yet in heaven he was exalted high in the scale of 
glory, next to the father of the faithful, as John was the 
beloved disciple, and lay on the bosom of Christ. 

'* For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast 
them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness to be reserved unto judgment." 2 Peter ii. 4. 

Some of the angels sinned (as we learn here and else- 
where,) but God did not punish them in the place where 
they transgressed fdl Hp cast them down to hell. They 



U>0 Tin; PENALTY of sin. 

were driven out of one place, the place of purity and glory, 
and shut up in hell, and confined in chains of darkness in 
order to be kept unto the judgment. Therefore hell must 
have a locality. 

" And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake 
of fire and brimestone, where the beast and the false pro- 
phet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and 
ever." Rev. xx. 10. Also, verse 15. "And whosoever 
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the 
lake of fire." Though the place of punishment is described 
by other terms and figures, yet it intimates that there is a 
place fixed and circumscribed, where the unregistered por- 
tion of the human race shall reap their awful doom in com- 
pany with the beast and the false prophet. 

3. The punishment of the wicked is couched in such 
language, and is described to be of such a nature as to pre- 
clude the idea of its being endured in this life. 

" And to you who are troubled, rest with us ; when the 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power." 
2 Thess. i. 7—9. 

Those who know not God ; who possess not that influ- 
ential and soul-subduing knowledge of the perfections of 
Jehovah, which induces men to obey the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, shall be the subjects of this punishment. The dis- 
tress and anguish of this punishment they shall realize at 
that time when the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall be re- 
vealed from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels. 
If the wicked are punished for all their sins deserve in this 
life, and if hell and sin go hand in hand throughout their 
duration, then the Lord is constantly revealed from heaven 



i ii ■ pi \ \i n 01 i :> I 

w\ flaming fire with his mighty king venge&nce 

;ind punishing I Qg destruction from 

tin* presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. How 
such a description of the punishment of the wicked can be 
to harmonize with the doctrine, that all punishment 
lined to this life, and that sin is its own punishment, 
we will not pretend to solve, hut leave it for its advo< 

Hut how such awful and terrific language accords with fu- 
ture punishment, we may conceive, when the Lord shall ho 
revealed as Judge from heaven, accompanied with his 
mighty angels, to judge the world in righteousness, to break 
the chains and restraints from the elemental fires of crea- 
and to commission the lurid, winding flame through all 
tmospheric space, to execute vengeance on the dcspis- 
1 and the gospel, and to put an everlasting sepa- 
between them and his own gracious presence and 
saving power. All this has not yet come to pass, but we 
have the infallible assurance that the predestined period 
shall arrive, and all these things shall be witnessed by- 
man — not a jot or tittle of the word shall fail, till all be ful- 
filled. 

••But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, 
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idol- 
ators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which 
burnetii with fire and brimstone : which is the second 
death." Rev. xxi. 8. 

We are well aware, that the Book of Revelations, is not 
invested with much authority to any teacher of Universal- 
ism, and the greal majority of them exclude it entirely from 
the canon of Holy Scriptures ; nevertheless, we find them 
quoting such portions as, when torn from their connection, 
seem to favor their religious views. That is the case with 
the third and fourth mid recorded in this chapter. 

* ; God shall wipe all tears from their faces," &c. It would 



152 HIE PENALTY OF BIN. 

be well for them first to admit the inspiration of this Book, 
before they attempt to establish the final happiness of all 
creatures from any portion of it; and then to prove bv un- 
questionable arguments that the Scripture we have quoted 
has undoubted reference to, and includes the whole human 
race. We firmly believe that this Book is divinely inspired, 
and that when God says that he will " wipe all tears from 
their faces," &c, he has particular and exclusive reference 
to those "men" who are "his people" and " have over- 
come," being the adopted sons and daughters of God, and 
actually redeemed by the blood of Christ. We further- 
more believe, that while the saints shall enjoy the beati- 
tudes of heaven ; " the fearful, the unbelieving, and the 
abominable," &c, shall have their portion in the regions of 
despair, weighed down by the pains and paroxysms of the 
second death. 

It is impossible that all the wicked characters mentioned 
in the text, do endure punishment for sin in this life, ade- 
quate to the description of the lake which burnetii with fire 
and brimstone, which is the second death. We know not 
where to find any calamity in this world that shall answer 
the description. We think and believe it impossible. 

" Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and 
foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness : 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. xxii. 
13. Such language, however figurative, can never be pre- 
dicated of the sufferings of the wicked in this life. When 
and where does the sinner suffer calamity of such a des- 
cription, as that it may be said, that he is bound hand and 
foot, and cast into outer darkness ? Language that teaches 
the helplessness of the suffering wicked, and their eject- 
ment from the society of the approved of God, into the 
most horrible gloom and despair, pain and anguish of soul, 
fitly represented by "outer darkness," and "weeping and 



I HI PEN U/Tl "I 

gnashing of teeth.' 1 I)" the wicked weep and gnash then- 
the} ar< exctudi d from the of the 

they ii"i riol \\ ith p< culiar m in 

debauchery and all sorts of criminal indulgence, and p 
to be absent from the place of holy convocation and uol 
mingle with the throng thai worship in the temple of God I 
A forced participation in the employments of the e 
would be rather more intolerable to them than to forego the 
banquet of the gospel — they would sooner weep and gnash 
their teeth in the solemn assemblies of the righteous than 
because they are compelled to retire. Psow since such 

endured by the wicked, and as it cannot be 
endured in this life, therefore it can only be expected in the 
world to conic. 

•• For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the 
truth in unrighteousness." Rom. i. 18. "Indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish against ever)- soul of man 
tiiat doeth evil ; the Jew first, and the Greek." Rom. ii. 
8, 9. 

If all punishment is confined to this life, and sin is its 
own punishment, then it could not be said, that wrath, in- 
dignation, tribulation and anguish is revealed and inflicted 
by God from on high upon the ungodly, who hold the truth 
in unrighteousness. There is quite a difference, in our 
humble judgment, between the punishment of sin inflicted 
by itself, and the wrath of God revealed from heaven and 
:ng the punishment due to sin. This latter is the 
nd the only meaning of the above passages. 
punishment i-m\ only be affirmed of the future. 

4. The Scriptur nt the punishment of the 

wicked and the j of the righteous as being effect- 

ed at the same time. 



154 i he PENALTY oi 

If this proposition be correct, then either the righteous 

are rewarded on earth, or else the punishment of the wick- 
ed will be in the future world. We see not how this con- 
clusion can be avoided, for there is as much propriety and 
as sound argument in favor of the position, that the pious 
are as fully and adequately rewarded in this life, as that the 
unrighteous arc punished for all their sins deserve in this 
transitory existence. But the Scriptures support our prop- 
osition, by representing that the happiness of the right- 
eous, and the misery of the wicked, shall be effected at one 
and the same time. Therefore, if the righteous are blessed 
in eternity fully and most emphatically, then the wicked 
are punished for sin in eternity. But it is generally admit- 
ted that the pious are rewarded in the future world, and 
since it is represented in the Scriptures to be effected at the 
time when punishment shall be executed upon the wicked, 
therefore they must both take place after this life. Let us 
examine a few passages which have a bearing on this point. 
" The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they 
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and 
them w r hich do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the 
kingdom of their Father." Matt, xiii. 41 — 43. 

"We learn that the Lord Jesus shall commission his an- 
gels with full power to gather up and exclude from his 
kingdom all who trample under foot the divine will, and 
work deeds of iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace 
of fire, where they shall w r ail and gnash their teeth in pain. 
Can this have reference to the suffering of the wicked in 
this life ? The explanation given to this part of the Par- 
able, or rather the explanation given by Universalists to the 
explanation of Christ of his own Parable, is the following: 
M The furnace w T as the city of Jerusalem ; and the right- 



\ 



l n: 

which are to shine as the sun, are those christians, 
w ho, after the Jews wer I, \\ ould i 

parative earthlj . and hai i njoj ment, 

in this life, of gosp< 1 peace.' 1 Notes on P Such 

:m explanation appears to us, rather a severe reflection on 
Chris i, for we should jud ' Christ intended to fc 

l>v this parable, what Univers he did, that his own 

explanation darkened counsel by words. What person, in 

tdid search after truth, would dream of such doctrines 
being couched under the language of the Saviour? None 
but those, who are intent on establishing a theory in defi- 
ance of truth and of correct principles of interpretation, 

obscure and pervert the counsel of God so egregiously. 
If this parable had reference to what Universalists say it 

then ii ought to teach, that after the wicked shall be 
burned up, the righteous shall shine forth as the sun, and 
not "then** — ;it tin 1 same time. 

But must we understand the angels to mean the Roman 
army, as the chosen agents of God to purify his kingdom, 
and that the earth with its " comparative earthly felicity," 
means the "kingdom of their Father?" If so, the parable 

Leth not the truth, for the Romans are not only repre- 
sented as the " abomination that maketh desolate," but they 
were not successful in gathering out of the earth all the 
wicked, nor did they cast all the wicked into the city of 
lem at its overthrow. Such interpretation of God's 
word is wit! ion t system, and is most objectionable ; for it 
would disprove the doctrine of a hereafter altogether, and 
dash out of existence the future and eternal blessedness re- 
served for the saints of ( rod, 

"The kingdom of their Father." In this kingdom the 
righteous shall shine when the harvest of the world shall 
have taken place, which as- i 1 1 he at the closing up of the 
gospel dispensation, therefore in the future life. It will be 



(56 THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

in that kingdom, which shall not be inherited by "flesh and 
blood," therefore the kingdom of glory, (1 Cor. xv. 50.) 
It will be alter the r n of the dead, at which time 

some shall arise to " everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt," then shall the " wise shine ad 
the brightness of the firmament," (Dan. xii. 3, 4,) there- 
fore it will be in the spirit-world. If the righteous shall 
shine in the kingdom, as referred to in the text, in the fu- 
ture life, " then,' 9 at that very time shall God by the agency 
of his angels gather out of the limits of the kingdom of his 
grace, all scandals and workers of iniquity, and shall cast 
them into a furnace, a place fitted for the punishment they 
deserve. This is the obvious meaning of this Scripture. 

"There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, token ye 
shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in 
the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." Luke 
xiii. 28. This passage has been interpreted to mean the 
rejection of the Jewish nation from the blessings of the 
gospel at the time when the Gentiles were called to repent- 
ance and faith in Christ. That it cannot have reference to 
this event, is evident from matter of fact in the case, and 
that therefore it is alone applicable to the saints oi God in 
the kingdom of glory and to the wicked as thrust out into 
outer darkness, wailing and in anguish of soul. 

At the time when the Jews shall see the patriarchs and 
prophets in the kingdom of heaven, then shall they be 
thrust out. If this only referred to faith, and not to a visi- 
ble sight of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the prophets, 
then the Jews might have seen them before and after the 
time of their exclusion from the covenant of the gospel, 
and not merely at the time when the act of exclusion took 
place. But since it refers to the final separation of the 
righteous and the wicked, when the saints of God shall rise 
triumphant with the prophets and patriarchs with songs of 



I'l.N AM | 

sublime adoration, then shall the wicked Jews with the fcm« 
ee them in the kingdom of heaven, fcnd 

they themselves thrust out. 

The Jews who were e\elu<!e<l from the kingdom of 

i red to in the t« •( YXSiblt of tin i 

ii. Hut this e,,til! said of the Jev e in rel i- 

tion to their exclusion from the gospel. They have neyei 
believfed thai Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, preach- 
ing and teaching the gospel of God, therefore thej were 
not sensible of any deprivation of blessings by rejecting the 
gospel. Because they were rejected of God, for the time 
being, they did not wail and feel internal anguish in conse- 
quence* Hut this will be when the text shall be fulfilled. 
By their being " thrust out," we should infer that there 

iolence used to bar them from the benefits of the gos- 
; their wilt, and that too when they were desirous 
of entering in and enjoying the kingdom of grace. We are 
vet to learn that the *Jews were desirous of the gospel, or 
that they were thrust back when they sought its blessings. 
Nay, their rejection of the gospel was willful, and when de- 
sirous to enter through Christ the kingdom of grace, they 
were welcomed and have in all ages found shelter and suc- 
cour ; and the promise is, that there shall yet be a general 
turning of Israel unto the Lord. So far as access to salva- 
tion is concerned God has put no difference between Jew r and 
lie — he has broken down the middle wall of partition. 
But from the kingdom of glory all the unholy and abomin- 
-liall he ( scluded, and "many shall seek to enter and 
shall no1 be able." When God shall descend amid the 
rending heavens and come to judgment, with the innumer- 
fatriarebs, prophets, and the church 
of the first born, then shall the tribes- of the earth mourn, 
because they are thrust out. At the time when the patri- 
archs and prophets, ami saints of God shall he finally cor- 



158 THE PENALTY OF BIN, 

onated in the kingdom of -heaven, then shall ye who are 
wicked and unreconciled be thrust out, to weep and wad in 
anguish of soul. This shall be in the future life. 

"And to you who are troubled, rest with us ; when the 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know- 
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Ji 
Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power ; 
when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be 
admired in all them that believe, <kc, in that day." 2 Thess. 
i. 7—10. 

By Universalists, this Scripture is referred to the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem as the scape-goat to carry away the pas- 
sages which threaten wrath upon the ungodly. At the time 
when all this shall take place, the apostles and the Thessa- 
lonian brethren had "a rest" promised, which could not 
have been the case, when the Jewish nation was destroyed. 
A. C. Thomas says, that "the Thessalonian brethren, and 
all other believers, were to obtain ' rest' from persecution, 
at the date of the ' tribulation' noted in the text." Now, 
it should be well known, that the people of God did not en- 
joy a cessation from persecution at the time Jerusalem was 
overthrown ; though the power of the Jewish people was 
broken, yet they fell into the hands of the heathen, and 
were shockingly tormented and slain for the space of two 
hundred years — they passed through ten severe and bloody 
persecutions. So far then the interpretation given by Uni- 
versalists is wide from the mark. 

What propriety was there for Paul to declare unto the 
Thessalonians the destruction of Jerusalem 1 What im- 
pression could this have on the mind of a heathen people, 
who knew but very little about Jerusalem, and what they 
did know had but excited their hatred of the Jews ? For 



i in P] \ \i.i \ Q] BIN. 1 W 

men to make Buch strange applications of il" 1 w ord of < rod 
in order to ai oid its obi io idicu* 

lous to receive serious reflection. 

The apostle is more precise in stating when this I i 
calamity and everlasting destruction shall take p] 

thai it shall be when the Son of man shall be re 
from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire. W r e 
are bound to understand the coming of Christ literally, un- 
(ie connexion should demand a mystical coming. We 
mighty have understood the first coming of Chrisl spiritu- 
ally, as spoken of in man)- prophecies, as well as to un- 
cond in th at the present day. The 

le had spoken of the coming of Christ in his first 
in such s to preclude the probability 

of misapprehension ; and it is hut reasonable, that in his 
id letter lie should mean the same thing, as he address- 
ed the same brethren, and desired to console them with the 
of the gospel. He says; "For the Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead 
in Christ shall rise first," &c. 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. Here 
the apostle announces the coming of Christ in connexion 
with the resurrection of the dead, therefore it must be still 
future and at the end of the world. This affords undoubt- 
ed e\idence of the time when the "Lord Jesus shall be 
or " descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
with his mighty angels." 
All th \{ in reference to the time, and that 

it could not be when Jerusalem w ed. 

This d< :e at the very time when 

ified in his saints and be admired 

in all them that believe." This same apostL where 

spoken of being made heirs and joint-heirs with Christ, 

under the condition of being obliged to "suffer with him, 



1(H) nil: PENALTY OF BIN. 

that we may be also glorified together." (Rom. viii. 17.) 
Christ prayed "glorify them with the glory which I had 

witli thee before the world was." When th< if God 

shall be glorified together with Christ, then shall the "Son 
of man come in the glory of the Father, with his angels, 
and then he shall reward every man according to his 
works." (Matt. xvi. 27.) The wicked shall be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord 
at (he very time when the believer shall be glorified; there- 
fore this Scripture must refer to a punishment subsequent 
to the judgment. 

5. The Scriptures represent the salvation of the children 
of men as conditional, and when not secured by complying 
with its conditions, that damnation will be the inevitable 
consequence. 

We shall advance a few passages to sustain the above 
proposition, for it is a strong link in the chain of arguments 
to prove a future punishment, and it affords but small room 
for a Universalist to quibble. In our view, they are the 
most unwelcome passages of Scripture to a teacher of Uni- 
versalism, by which his system can be assailed. If there 
be no future punishment, and the whole human race must 
necessarily be finally holy and happy, why are the promi 
ses of the gospel conditional ? If men do not comply with 
the conditions of mercy, what will be the hazard ? The 
Universalist is compelled to declare, none at all — all is 
right, and all will be well. Thus making salvation and 
damnation, death and life, blessing and cursing, the same 
thing. If the holiness and happiness of the whole human 
race is absolutely certain, then there can be no possible 
failure in the attainment of this end, and therefore no pro- 
priety and necessity in making the blessings of the gospel 
and everlasting life conditional ; for whatever is given by 
promise with a condition expressed or understood is sus- 



PHI 161 

ceptible of a failure. It' so, then the j< Ivation and 

eternal life may be lost, provided they are promii 

upon certain conditions; thai this is the ! now 

proi 

"For God bo loved the world, thai he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, thai er believeth in him should nut per- 
ish, hut have everlasting life." John iii. 16. 

In this passage we have broughl to view in comparison, 
n ami everlasting life: the one just opposite to 
the other in meaning ami influence. As all the elements of 
tnd glory, as well as their duration, are contained in 
1 lite; so all the opposite elements of deprivation and 
comprised in destruction — while with the latter 
t!vm in its literal meaning, independent of the force it de- 
itfi standing as an antithesis, there is associated 
the idea of misery. The life promised, which must be se- 
cured in order to escape the destruction to w T hich man is 
liable, can only be enjoyed by faith in Christ. Christ 
died to save the children of men, and has offered this sal- 
vation to them upon condition, "that whosoever believeth 
in him/' The presence and exercise of faith secures sal- 
vation and its want will subject us to destruction. This is 
plainly taught in this same chapter, verse 36, " He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that be- 
lieveth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God 
th on him." Faith entitles us to everlasting life, and 
unbelief draws down "the wrath of God" upon us. 

M He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but 
he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark xvi, 1G. 
Here Christ t;niL r ht the world in the great commission, fliat 
whosoever believeth in Christ, and confessed the christian 
on in obeying the ordinance of baptism, should be 
saved; but he that did not believe in Christ the Savior, 
should be damned. The app { his passage are, sal- 



1 62 THE PENALTY 0] 

ration and damnation, faith *nd unbelief. Faith is 
condition of salvation, and unbelief of damnation ; as men 

must either believe, or disbelieve, for there is no neutrality 
here, therefore they will either be saved or damned. There 
is no escape from this conclusion. To pretend that the ap- 
plication of this passage is confined strictly to the age of 
the apostles, and as having no reference to the duration of 
the gospel dispensation, is but a feeble evasion of its truths. 
The various circumstances, which should attend and follow 
the career and labors of the apostles, though they cr . 
now to accompany the efforts of ministers, do not destroy 
and subvert the fundamental principles of the gospel nor 
the truth of the great commission. That truth is sustained 
by other passages beyond the power of successful assault 
or subversion. 

" If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be 
anathema maranatha." 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Let any man be 
accursed, when the Lord cometh, if he love not the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Thus, the only way to avoid the curse of 
God, is to love the Savior, and when love is wanting, the 
curse cannot be avoided. 

The spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah, the son of 
Oded, and he spake unto Asa, Judah and Benjamin, "The 
Lord is with you while ye be with him : and if ye seek 
him, he will be found of you : but if ye forsake him, he 
will forsake yon." 2 Chron. xv. 2. This passage is so 
plain, that it needs no comments, for it clearly portrays the 
conditionality of divine mercies and blessings. 

We shall find that the career of the christian in this life, 
is •represented in the Scriptures, as demanding prayer, 
watchfulness and diligence, in order to secure the end of 
the gospel and the glory of God. If salvation is not con- 
ditional, and eternal life absolutely certain, then a failure of 
immortal blessedness is impossible; therefore the teaching 



i in PI NALT1 "i K'»i< 

of tin 4 Bible, in this respect, is altogether unaccountable and 

\ oid of propriety. But if such a charge 

and hostile to the wisdom and character of God, then 

only be reconciled upon the ground of the conditionally of 

salvation. Thai this is the only Scriptural and defensible 

ground, we shall now illustrate by the character of Paul, 

the great apostle of the Gentiles. We read in 1 Co 

■ Mm 1 keep under my body, and bring it into subjec- 
tion : lest thai by any menus, when I have preached to 
others, 1 myself should be a castaway." 

Who does not understand that Paul deemed it of great 
importance to the attainment of eternal life for him to keep 
the mastery over himself, and to bring every thought into 
captivity to Christ, and that if these restraints were not ob- 

d, he would he considered a reprobate at the last day I 
If the attainment of heaven were not possible of failure, 
then such sentiments and language would be out of place 
and useless. The apostle represents the christian career 

rape to be run, in which all should strive, and observe 
the regulations with fidelity and integrity; for only r such as 
enter the race and strive lawfully shall reap the reward. 
In the Olympic games, but one could come off victorious, 
and be crowned with the fading garland, though many enter 
the course; but not so in the christian race, all may enter 
and all may succeed, provided they strive lawfully. Paul 
had cast in his lot with many others in this christian 
from earth to glory, lie was wel] 1, that there was 

a divine reality at the goal, which might be obtained with 

nty, provided any one contended lawfully and perse- 

I unto the end of the race, lie was however, fully 
convinced, that ther< possibility of a failure, not re- 

sulting from any thil or thai Christ had 

done, or from the plan of salvation ; but from the possibility 
of his not complying with the conditions of the race, by not 



164 the im:naltv of sin. 

subjecting his body, all his desires, reelings :\nd movent 
to the holy requirements of the gospel. We learn from :i 
subsequent history of this same man of God, that his soul 
greatly rejoiced and exulted in the Lord, that he had ob- 
served the rules and attained the desired end of his chris- 
tian course. We read in 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. " I have fought 
a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that 
day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
his appearing." His journey had been a warfare, a race 
to be run, and he was the steward of a sacred and a respon- 
sible trust; in the struggle with principalities, powers and 
spiritual wickedness in high places he had come off victo- 
rious, the race was ended with fidelity and integrity, and 
the talents of truth, grace and mercy, he had kept; therefore 
with full assurance he could look up and expect a crown of 
righteousness, administered by Christ the righteous Judge. 
Had he not thus fought, and run, and kept the faith, he 
would have failed of the heavenly crown ; he knew, that 
there was a possibility of losing the benefits of the promise 
of life, therefore he contended manfully,' and succeeded 
gloriously. Many like Paul, shall come up into the region 
of light, of bliss, and of glory through great tribulation — 
this the vision of heaven has disclosed to the world. 

Now, if all the joys of grace and the glory of heaven 
were absolutely certain and not conditional, such instruc- 
tions and language as we have noticed, would be sheer 
mockery, and tantalizing the feelings of the children of men. 
But every candid reader of the Bible must be convinced, 
that we have given an exact portraiture in the foregoing 
pages. If so, then Universalism cannot be from God, nor 
a safe foundation on which to trust, and build our hopes of 
future glory. He that builds on this system, will find, 
when perhaps too late, that he has built on the sand. 



rm. PENALTY 01 BIN. 165 

8. The Scriptures teach thai men will carry wiih them 
une mora] character into tin 1 future world, which they 
formed in this, therefore if they deserved punishmedl here, 
thrv will hereafter. 

Though (Jniversalism teaches thai the soul remains un- 
Btained and holy, while man pursues a course of sin and 
lolly, thai the body with its lusts and inclinations accumu- 
:ill the pollution, and dial the punishment due for 
transgression is his greatest conceivable blessing in this 
world, as a means for the accomplishment of an end; yet 
they earnestly contend that man must be punished for all 
his sins deserve, and that, in this life. Now, without dis- 
g the nature or design of punishment, we would as- 
sume it as a mere fact, and argue, that if the wicked deserve 
shmenl in this life because of their immoral character, 
which is inevitable, then they must endure punishment in 
the future world, provided they sustain the same character 
there that they do here. This is certain, and the point is 
proved, if we can sustain from reason and Scripture the 
above proposition ; and if we succeed, then it is evident 
that Universalism is not from God. 

" The wicked is driven away in his wickedness ; but 
the righteous hath hope in his death" Prov. xiv. 32. 

This passage sustains the doctrine, that the wicked 
who die in their sin and immoral character, shall he 
i away with the same character, they formed in this 
They are driven away in their wickedness, and not 
from their sins; while the righteous hath hope in his 
deatli — not a hope of being delivered from his character, 
being good and righteous before God, bui of immortal glory 
beyond deatli, for his works do follow him. But the wicked 
have no confidence in the past, nor hope of the future; the 
character they formed in wickedness, they shall retain and 



166 THE PENALTY 01 SIN. 

with it they shall be driven away from God and "the glory 
of his power." Driven away in their vicious character in 
the hour of death, and so long as they retain that immoral 
character, they shall be driven away ; and if they retain 
that immoral character to all eternity, they shall be driven 
from God and glory through the unceasing ages of eternity. 
If a man of business becomes bankrupt, and is compelled 
to leave the place of his residence by the demands of his 
creditors, he is driven away in his bankruptcy and with 
the bankrupt's character. And wherever he goes he retains 
that character — no circumstance in life, or change of loca- 
tion can separate that character from him. So it is with 
the wicked who die in sin, neither the ordeal of death, nor 
'the untried realities of eternity, can change their bankrupt 
and immoral character; therefore they will be liable to pun- 
ishment in the future world. 

" When a righteous man turneth away from his right- 
eousness and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them ; for 
his iniquity that he hath done, shall he die." Ez. xviii. 26. 
Here we have a proof as clear as language can make it, that 
the wicked shall take with them their immoral character 
through death and into the future world. The prophet 
presents before us an apostate from God, " he turneth from 
his righteousness," and becomes an actual sinner, "he com- 
mitteth iniquity," and now, if he die with this immoral and 
wicked character, undergoing a dissolution of soul and body, 
for his apostasy from God and wickedness he shall die, or 
suffer punishment in the future world. The first refers to 
his natural death, and the second to the death of the soul, 
or punishment for his crimes. They cannot both refer to 
his natural death, for this he would have suffered, had he 
remained righteous ; in that case it could not be said, "for 
the iniquity he hath done, shall he die," for it would not 
be strictly true. The one death, the natural, he dies in sin, 



i in ri \ vi. i \ 0] BIN. 

and the other, the spiritual and eternal, be dies for his ini- 
quity ; and the latter takea place onlj after bis natural 
death, therefore ii cannot transpire in this life, but must be 
endured in the future world. And as the spiritual death is 
the result of sin and of bis apostate character formed prior 
to natural death, it Is irrefutable, thai the wicked carries bis 
character with him beyond the gnu e. [f bis \\ icked oh 
ter deservtd punishment in this world, which is admitted 
on all hands, then he deserves punishment in the future 

world ; sinee he transfers the same character with himself 
into eternity. Christ said unto the Jews while on earth, 
M I go my way and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your 
sins ; whither I go, ye cannot come," John viii. 21. If 
sin and wickedness exclude the children of men from the 

and mercy of God, and rear up an insurmountable 

le in the way to heaven, the place whereunto the 
Savior resorted when he retired from this world; then the 
position is tenable beyond the power of successful contra- 
diction, that individuals will have the same moral character 
in the future world, that they formed in this state of proba- 
tion. This being the case, the doctrine of a future retribu- 
tion is demonstrated and clearly established. 

" The hour is coming in the which all that are in the 
graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth ; they that 

done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that 
ha\ e done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 
v. 28, 29. The doctrine of the Savior is decisive proof of 
the proposition laid down above, that the wicked transfer 
their moral character into the spirit-world ; for we are in- 
formed, not only that all those who do well, shall stand up 
in the resurrection with their good characters ; but that all 

who do evil, shall be raised up with their evil charac- 
ters. Therefore if their evil characters deserved suffering 
and punishment in this world, they will deserve the same 



1G8 Tin: PENALTY 01 

in the future state of e\ for God and the administra- 

tion of his moral government must necessarily be unchange- 
able. The wicked form their character in this life, they 
retain it in death, they wake up with it in the resurrection, 
and are now found in that state of existence, where the un- 
just, will continue to be unjust, and the filthy will he filthy; 
therefore they must quaff the bitter cup of sorrow and woe. 
Universalists, in order to evade the force of this 
Scripture to prove the transmission of moral character from 
this world into the next, and the certainty of future punish- 
ment, deny the applicability of the text to the future world, 
and attempt to explain it as referring to this life. The 
various glosses and perversions they employ to do away 
the obvious meaning and the commonly received interpre- 
tation of the passage, we will briefly notice. 

The interpretation of Universalists is, that this Scripture 
does not inculcate a literal resurrection, but a moral one ; 
and that the resurrection to damnation means to condem- 
nation. 

It would be perfectly absurd to speak of a moral resur- 
rection to damnation. A resurrection implies, being raised 
from one state into another, therefore the wicked must be 
raised from a state of moral death to a life of holiness, to 
damnation. This idea is too absurd to be harbored for a 
moment, and should be sufficient ground to spurn the above 
interpretation as erroneous and unworthy of serious debate. 

To consider the resurrection spoken of in this saying of 
Christ as moral and not literal, produces various perplexi- 
ties in its interpretation. .We read the " hour is coming, 
&c. ;" but what hour, and specific period of time is refer- 
red to, is of difficult decision, if it is not understood as 
embracing the time of the general resurrection. The time 
was evidently future when the Savior uttered the words, 
and nothing is said by which we might infer that any such 



rut ii \ 160 

time had already a! thia 

clearly the feet, if it meant r< ction, for 

had already been raised to Bpiritual life by faith in 
Christ It also declaresj thai " :ill thai are in their | 
shall hear the voice of the Son of man and shall come 
forth, A.T." Who are in theii and ill wl 

If these do not mean the literal dead and the literal gi 
what do tiny mean .' It is true, [he Jews while in captivity 
to Babylon were ivpn sented as being in their graves ; bul 
the particular state in which the good and had are as re- 
nted by tin 1 term " grai e" in the text, if it be not taken 
literally, who can tell ? If the grave represents moral cor- 
ruption and spiritual death, it cannot be possible that the 
are reduced to such a condition and involved in this 
moral state. Yet if understood figuratively-, both the good 
and had are promiscuously confined in the grave of sin and 
death; but if the literal resurrection is taught, then there is 
no difficulty, for the good and bad are literally dead and 
shall come forth from their graves at the voice of the Son 
of man. Not only so, but if a moral. resurrection is spoken 
of. then the good are in the grave of sin" and death, and 
those who have done evil come forth from their graves into 
a state of damnation. All this must be absurd, for they 
that do good, cannot be in such a state, nor can the bad 
have such a moral resurrection. 

The context of the Savior's discourse overthrows the in- 
t it ion, that the text teaches a moral and not a literal 
resurrection, and that it includes a change from spiritual 
death to spiritual condemnation. He himself says: "He 
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, 
and shall not come into condemnation; 
but is passed from death unto life." This interpretation 
of a moral renovation is quite different from that given by 
Dniversalist expounders of the Scriptures. The man who 



1?0 nil-. PENALTY Of 

enjoys by faith this resurrection, comes forth to everlasting 
life, and does not come into condemnation — hi rom 

death unto life; but not so with that which is taught by 
the doctrine of Universalism. The Savior adds, k * Verily, 

verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is' 
when the dead shall hear the voice ol" the Son of man ; and 
they that hear shall live." This passage and the pi 
one, we will admit as undoubted, teach a moral renovation 
by faith and the word of Christ, but it is not therefore as a 
matter of course, that the succeeding passages imply the 
same doctrine. The astonishment of the audience induced 
the Savior to say: "marvel not at this" (we might para- 
phase it) " that I quicken those who believe in me, and that 
hearing my voice — obeying my word — they are raised to a 
spiritual life ; for a greater work than this the Son of man 
shall effect, for the time is coming when all that are in the 
grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth ; those who 
have done good unto the resurrection of life, and those who 
have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." What 
the Savior spoke of in the 24th and 25th verses, referred to 
present as well as to future time ; whereas in the 28th and 
29th verses he spoke of future time, " the hour is coming, 
#'C.;" therefore the former teaches w r hat may and does take 
place in the present world, and the latter refers to the period 
of the general resurrection. 

Another gloss upon this Scripture is, that all men have 
done good and evil, they must necessarily share in both 
resurrections, to life and to damnation. This does not ex- 
actly accord with the text, for that makes a distinction of 
moral character in those who have done good, and those 
w T ho have done evil; the good shall have a resurrection to 
life and not to damnation, and the evil shall have a resur- 
rection to damnation and not to life. It is also a question 
open to debate, whether all have done the good spoken of 



i mi P] \ \i i \ or BIN. 17 1 

in the text, or the evil. The standard of goodness among 
men is sometimes an abomination in the sight of a bol) 
God, and 1 1 u* evil referred to in the text maj not be the 
evil of which all are guilty. Barnabas " \\ I man, 

i fall of the Hoi) Ghost and of faith ;" \ 
and Christ says, "He that heareth my word and belii 
in ii i in thai Bent me, shall not conn' into condemnation." 
Lie] declares who are the good: " When I sa) unto the 
wicked, Thou shalt surely die ; if Ac turn from his sin 
and do that which is lawful and right, * * * none 
o( his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto 
him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he 
shall surely Kt>e." (Ez. xxxiii. 14 — 16.) All those who 
turn from their sins prior to death, and have faith in the 
word ^( God, shall not come into condemnation, but unto 
the resurrection o( life ; for they have done that which is 
lawful and right, their sins are pardoned, and they are 
d as though they had never sinned; for Christ to them 
become the end of the law for righteousness." (Rom. 
x. 4.) Those who have done evil are such as are " con- 
demned already, because they have not believed in the 
name of the only begotten Son of God;" they turn not 
away from their sins and folly and are void of the. spirit 
and truth of Christ. Ezekiel describes those who shall 
die in their iniquity, and come forth to the resurrection 
of damnation : " When a righteous man turneth away 
from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, and dieth 
in them ; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die" 
Ez. xviii. 26. 

The above is the standard of good which when lived up 
to, will secure a resurrection to eternal life ; and also the 
standard of evil which when practised will result in a re- 
surrection to damnation. Thus the sinner will be raised 
with the same moral character, with which he left this 



172 THE PEN SIN, 

world, and if deserving of punishment here, he will be in 

the eternal world. Death docs not change the moral char- 
acter of the soul, nor will the slumber of years bleach out 
the stains of gin. As the wicked leave this world in point 
of character, so will they stand up before the Judge in the 
resurrection. The body will not be refined morally in the 
darkness and corruption of the grave, nor their souls with 
the sufferings which they may endure in their separate 
state ; while wandering in the gloom of despair in the future 
world and wailing in anticipation of the Judgment day. 
In the decisive lime, when the voice of Christ shall thun- 
der from the blue vault above, the dead shall awake, the 
spirit shall be recalled from its wanderings and reunite with 
its body, startled into life, and coming forth from the grave, 
the dark charnal-house or the billowy deep ; the same 
moral character they shall sustain which was formed be- 
fore their separation by natural death. Once they were 
loath to die ; but now how loath they are to undergo a 
fearful and trembling reunion of soul and body with pro- 
spective eternity in full view. 

All those passages which speak of the " resurrection of 
the just" — of the "just and the unjust"— -of the " dead in 
Christ rising first" — and of " the first resurrection," — "the 
better resurrection," intimate and teach a distinction of 
character; that the wicked shall possess the same moral 
character at the resurrection and in the future world, which 
they formed in this life of probation. Compare the follow- 
ing passages: Luke xiv. 14; Acts xxiv. 15; 1 Thess. iv. 
16; Rev. xx. 6 ; Heh. xi. 35. 

If we have established the proposition, that the moral 
character of men shall accompany them into the spirit- 
world, then we have advanced an unanswerable argument 
in favor of future punishment ; for our opponents admit that 
the wicked deserve punishment in this life, because they 



i hi ii SALTY 01 lUf. 

inful Mid unholy ; for this i 

and will .nishment in the fiilmv 1 

t, thai ilif wicked will be pun- 
ished !, that is after the dissolution of ><>ul and 

body. 

[fwe shall be able t<> prove this proposition, thou \s« 
shall advance another strong and decisive pr future 

judgment, and punishment. We hav< d thai 

i would teach the necessity of future punishment; for 
in this life the wicked do not receive adequate punishment 
for all their sins deserve; and that the administration of 
divine providence cannot be explained on any other ground. 
While the righteous suffer many afflictions in this world, 
from which the religion of Christ does not exempt them, 
Ji they are sanctified to their future good; the wicked 
Sourish and spepd their days in lust and wine. 

We read in Ileh. ix. 27. "And as it is appointed unto 
men once to die, but after this the judgment." 

This passage inculcates the doctrine, that the Almighty 
has made the order of his judgment in point of time, to 
succeed death — after death we shall appear before the 
judgment seat to answer for all the deeds done in the body. 
>hould suppose, even from logical reasoning, that if 
there were no future punishment there would not even be a 
propriety of a judgment after death, For a judgment pre- 
supposes that the children of men pursued a course of con- 
duet for which they were held accountable, and which would 
a moulding influence on their destiny subsequently. 
A judgment implies a strict and legal investigation of the 
character of men, together with a judicial decision. All 
things are needless, if there be no future punishment; 
if judgment and punishment go hand in hand with the 
career of sin and folly ; begin and end together. As the 
dealings of God can alone be explained and harmonized 



17 1 THE PENALTY OF 

with eternal right and justice, before an assembled World, 

after the human race shall have transcended the bounds 
of probation, SO it will be essentially important to hold a 
future judgment; and if a judgment, then there will be fu- 
ture rewards and punishments. 

The Savior says in Luke xii. 4, 5 : " Be not afraid of 
them that kill the body, and after that have no more that 
they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear ; 
Fear him which after he hath killed, hath power to cast 
into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." Compare with 
Math. x. 28. We look upon this Scripture as being in 
point, and decisive. This passage speaks of the punish- 
ment of the body, its destruction, and that too, as inflicted 
in this life by man, or by God. 

It speaks of the punishment of the soul in such a sense 
as man can never inflict; for after the body is killed, the 
soul cannot be reached by his artifice, or cruelty. God 
alone can destroy the soul. This punishment of the soul 
is spoken of as separate and distinct from that inflicted on 
the body. 

This punishment of the soul is inflicted by God after the 
death of the body, therefore it must be in the future world. 
There is no escape from this passage, except by advoca- 
ting the doctrine of the annihilation of the soul, and this is 
equally fatal to Universalism; for if the souls of the wicked 
are annihilated, then their final holiness and happiness is 
out of the question. Since men may lose their natural 
life, so may the soul be exposed to the damnation of hell, 
which could not be the case, if there were no hell and pun- 
ishment after death. Some of the Jews had so sinned as 
to expose the soul to inevitable destruction, therefore the 
Savior says: " How can ye escape the damnation of hell ?" 

" There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in 
purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day ; 



i certain I 

. full of sores, and A be fed with the 

crombfl which fell from the rich man's table i mon 
imi 1 and licki d his sores. And it came fa 
that the beggar died, and into Abra- 

h;iin'> I'osom. The rich man also died, and was buried : 
and in hell he lifted up his eye-, being in torments, 
eeedi Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And 

he fried and said. Father Abraham, have mercy on me, 
and send Lazarus that lie may dip the tip of his finger in 
u my tongue; for lam tormented in this 
," &c. Luke xvi. 19—31. 
We understand this portion of Scripture to teach the 
f future punishment, that all who live in pleasure, 
: impenitence, shall suffer misery and despair af- 
in point to prove the proposition 
us. However, strong, witty, and w^e might say, 
reckl( . have been made to wrest it from this ap- 

plication. We shall, therefore, enter upon a hrief exami- 
nation of this subject. 

We shall find, as a general thing, an intimate connection 
in ihe discourses of Christ, and in all his parables, and illus- 
trations, derived from matter of fact, from some suitable and 
striking object. In the commencement of the chapter, the 
Savior illustrated the disposition the rich should make of 
their goods in order to meet the approbation of God — that 
they should distribute to the poor, and feed the needy, so 
that when they fail on earth, they, (the poor,) may welcome 
them into the courts of heaven. While thus blasting with 
the truth of heaven, the covetousness of men, the Pharisees, 
who were guilty of this sin, were offended and began to de- 
ride the Lord Jesus. At this the Savior sharply rebuked 
the Pharisees, and told them that their standard of morals 
was an abomination in the sight of God. To illustrate all 
8 



176 I lit PUNISHMENT ai sin, 

with the fatal < of a lift of to> 

rored with the narration of the rich man ami 

Lazarus. Though the Jews were believers in the punish- 
ment of the wicked in the future world, yet they did not 
seem to believe that a Jew should thus perish, because they 
had been the favored people of God, while the heathen 
were reprobates. It was therefore important to bring forth 
the truth, that heaven and hell were not dependent on na- 
tional, but on individual character — that a Jew who was 
wicked and covetous would sink into the despair of Hades, 
without the most distant prospect of recovery. 

There has teen much disputation in order to determine, 
whether it be a narrative of matter of fact, or a parable. 
Universalists claim it to be a parable, and explain it in such 
a manner as to wrest it from any application to the spirit- 
world, for they perceive, that if they admit of its reference 
to the future world, though a parable, it is death to their 
theory. The orthodox expounders of the Scriptures are 
not, generally, tenacious whether it be called a parable, or 
history, for in their view it has an obvious reference to the 
spirit-world ; if a parable, it teaches, what may take place ; 
and if a history, what has taken place. It is admitted on 
all hands, even by Universalists, that the Jewish nation be- 
lieved in a future endless woe, and upon the ground that 
this is a wicked and fatal error, the course of the Great 
Teacher is passing strange and unaccountable in making 
use of such language and illustrations, as would strengthen 
and establish the people in their faith of this delusion. Yet, 
if we are to believe the declarations of Universalists, Christ 
came to teach and illustrate the doctrine of the necessary 
final holiness and happiness of the rational world, and that 
there was no future woe. Even in the admission that this 
is a parable, it is impossible for Universalists to give a sen- 
sible and consistent interpretation of this Scripture by ap- 



in' 177 

• it to matters <>r this life. In th i ition thi r< 

i> no analogy, il is full of contradictions and whimsical no- 
tions, at war with other Scriptures, and i 

sk no one to belies e this, b ir opinion 

drawn from their exposition ; but we in 
a brief ami candid examination for hinu 

The Lnterprei it is a 

I ble, and thai the Saviord< h the following 

That tin- rich man represents the house of I 
abounding in spiritual blessings. By Lazarus, the be 
the Gentile world, who were excluded from the privileges 
of the Jews. The death of Lazarus and his transfer to 
Abraham's bosom, the conversion of the Gentiles to the 
death and misery of the rich man, the exclu- 
"1* the house of Israel from the kingdom of grace. 
The gulf fixed, imports the purpose of God that the Jews 
Bhall not believe the gospel until the fullness of the Gentiles. 

Is such an < xposition consistent with the Scriptures, with 
matter of fact, and even with this same Scripture ? We 
think not. If the rich man stands for the house of Israel, 
when enjoying all the blessings of their covenant with God, 
whit shall w T e illustrate by his five brethren ? If the one 
stood for the house of Israel, or the Jewish nation, then 
there must have been five Jewish nations besides. This 
contradicts all sacred and profane history, therefore is ne- 
cessarily false. 

If Lazarus represents the Gentile world, then the char- 
acter of this people is not fitly rep any more than 
their condition. The heathen, as a whole, were built up 
in large empires, possessing w< alth and competence, as 
Rome, and Gr< , while in character they were poor 
and needy, pi" ad sinful. But Lazarus was poor, 
in this world's goods only, while in character he was be- 
loved and approved of God. If Lazarus stands for the 



178 nn: PUNISHMENT OF sin. 

Gentiles, he ought to be represented as virions, carnal, and 
unholy in every respect. The dogs fame and licked Ins 
: the heathen were looked upon as dogs by the Jews, 
did the heathen then administer kindness to the heathen, 
that is, to themselves, as a matter worthy of note ? 

If the death of the rich man represents the exclusion of 
the Jewish people from the spiritual blessings of their cov- 
enant — their apostacy from God and the extinguishment of 
their glory, then they became morally dead in trespasses 
and sins ; while the Gentiles, when they were made spirit- 
ually alive and assumed the place of the Jews in the favor 
of God, could not be said that they died, for the very act, 
by which they were transferred into the kingdom of God, 
made them alive. In this teaching there is but one death, 
while the text speaks of two, therefore this exposition is 
not sustained by the very Scripture it attempts to expound. 
They both lived simultaneously, and they both died ; while 
the one was transferred to a place of misery and torment, 
the other was raised to the enjoyment of unspeakable hap- 
piness. 

If the rich man in his sensible misery, and asking of 
father Abraham to send Lazarus to afford him the slightest 
blessing and kindness, is to represent the Jews in their state 
of exclusion from the gospel as sensible of their loss, and 
of the gain of the Gentile, and asking for the smallest fa- 
vors of gospel mercies ; then it gives an erroneous impres- 
sion. For when have the Jews as a nation sought for the 
blessings of the gospel from the hands of the Gentiles, or 
even manifested a sensible knowledge of any loss in having 
rejected the Messiah? Up to this day the Jews are un- 
convinced of any loss in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth, nor 
are they longing for gospel mercy from the altars and tem- 
ples of christianized Gentile nations. Then this interpre- 
tation contradicts matter of fact and must therefore be false. 



I in PI NI8HM1 M 0] 

It' the impassable gulf b< twe< n the rich man and L 
rus, represents "the purpose of God thai the Jews shall 
not believe the l:<>-|.c| until the fullness <>(' the <>• □ 
in," or the unbelief of the .1. w b ; thep 
truth, tor it would teach, thai the Jews, however desirous 
of th. re not able to believe in Christ; that they 

cannot receive the b f salvation an.) more than the 

Oentil from God into their former situa- 

tion. Verily, many of the .lews believed in Christ in his 
day, by the agency of the apostles and in latter times ; the 
"gulf" oi' unbelief cannot hold them back, if they will 
come to Christ ; and the christianized Gentiles may, and 
many have apostatized from God, thus they have passed 
lie "gulf" to the wicked and unbelieving Jews. Yet 
the word declares, that " between us and you there is a great 
gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to 
you cannot; neither can they pass to us that w r ould come 
from thence." (Verse 26.) If Lazarus was in the king- 
dom of grace, and the rich man in unbelief among his na- 
tion, where would he have him go to warn his brethren ? 
We cannot tell. And what does he mean by saying, that 
if one rose from "the dead, they would repent?" Does 
the rich man still intimate that Lazarus was dead, when he 
had been made morally alive, if he represents the Gentiles 
introduced into the gospel kingdom ? Or was Lazarus dead 
in a different sense? What is it, or who can tell? All 
these are essential points, if this Scripture is a parable and 
must needs have their application. 

Many things might here be said in favor of this Scrip- 
ture being a history and not a parable, but we will not ex- 
tend our i on this point. 

We arc inclined to believe it a history of fads, \\ 
woven with figurative language, to describe the awful 
sublimity of tin subject; and that it teaches the following 



180 l Hi: I' i MSHMENT OF six. 

doctrine, — that beyond death and the grave are two worlds 
and two modes of existence, heaven and hell, in bli^s and 
in woe — that men are fitting themselves in this world for 
either the one or the other — that at death they will < i 
into heaven, or into woe, according to the moral, or immoral 
character they sustain — that the destiny of men is fixed 
after death, the righteous are not commissioned on errands 
of mercy to the lost, nor are the lost allowed to pass over 
from their dreary region into the place of glory, all relief 
and every source of joy is cut off — the punishment of the 
damned shall prey upon the soul like the gnawing of the 
undying worm, and the fury of quenchless fires. Reader, 
beware lest you come to this place. 

8. The Scriptures represent the main punishment of the 
wicked as taking place after the resurrection, and the gen- 
eral judgment. 

If this proposition is susceptible of proof, then we are 
favored with another argument adapted to sustain the doc- 
trine of future woe and misery. We read in Matt. x. 15, 
" It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Go- 
morrah in the day of judgment, than for that city ;" xi. 23, 
24, "And thou, Capernaum — it shall be more tolerable for 
the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." 
Luke xi. 31, 32. "The queen of the south sjiall rise up 
in the judgment with the men of this generation arid con- 
demn them," &c. " The men of Nineveh shall rise up in 
the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it," 
&c. These passages speak of a future judgment, and de- 
clare that the punishment of the inhabitants of Sodom and 
Gomorrah shall not be so intolerable, at that time, as that 
wjiich shall be inflicted on the people of Capernaum, and 
the impenitent cities of the land of Judea. The queen of 
the south visited Solomon about 1,000 years before the ap- 
pearance of Christ, and the preaching of Jonah to the Nine- 



1 ■ 

a few hundred yeai queen and the men 

i m the judgment ai inn the 

ttimi thai lived in the d - hrist; therefore the 

■ 
quent judgment, and th< iniietion of condign p 
If the itions which have been i 

.1 and punish and at the 

time; thru punishment for sin musl be in the future 
world* 

We are taught that the end of the world, the resurrection 
of the dead, the judgment of the great day, and the pun- 
ishment of the wicked, shall take place in swift succession, 
and in coi- order. We read in 2 Peter iii. 7, "But 

the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same 
in store, reserved unto fire against the day 
of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men." As the 
flood swept over the earth in the time appointed, and de- 
molished the works of men ; so the world is still kept by 
the word of God, reserved for that time when the fire shall 
sweep around and invelop the habitable globe : at that time 
the day of judgment shall pass by and the perdition of un- 
godly men shall take place. This punishment must be in 
the future world. " But the day of the Lord will come as 
a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass 
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt witli 
t heat ; the earth also and the works that are therein 
shall be burnt up." (Verse 10.) " Looking for and hast- 
ening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the 
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat." (Verse 12.) Here we have 
a descripti end of the world. 

We have in another Scripture the whole subject brought 
to view. Rev. w. 11 — If). "And 1 :cat white 

throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth 



132 THE PUNISHMENT OF 

and the heaven fled away; and the] and DO place 

for them." This represent* the end of. the world, the same 
as in Peter. " And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God : and the hooks were opened: and another book 
was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were 
judged out of those things which w r ere written in the books, 
according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead 
which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead 
which were in them ; and they were judged every man ac- 
cording to their works." All this declares the resurrection 
of the dead, who were still retained under the dominion of 
death, after the first resurrection, and the final judgment of 
the dead who were raised by the power of God, in soul and 
body from death and Hades, the grave and the spirit-w T orld. 
Now comes the final doom of the wicked, as an event sub- 
sequent to the resurrection and the judgment. " And death 
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second 
death. And whosoever was not found written in the .book 
of life was cast into the lake of fire." This is an awful 
description of the punishment of the wicked. The expres- 
sion that " death and hell were cast into the lake of fire," 
we understand to teach, that all those who were confined 
in the grave, as to the body — and in the spirit-world, as to 
the soul, after the first resurrection had taken place, were 
then, after being judged and fully condemned, cast soul and 
body into the misery of the damned as their future destiny. 
Every reader must be aware, that the first resurrection had 
taken place prior to this time 1000 years, and all who were 
so fortunate as to have a part in this and awoke from death 
on that sweet morn, were not liable to the second death. 

After wading through all the arguments we have advan- 
ced, in favor of future punishment, with a mind controlled 
by candor and a prayerful spirit, still to cling with a death- 
struggle to the doctrine, that in the future world, misery and 



THE PUNISHMENT 01 -in. 1 88 

shall never stamp its Borrows on any portion of the 

human race, and that after death, all will start anew on a 
common level, in their race stretched throuj 1 glo- 

ill such we despair of benefiting or of recovering them 
to heaven-begotten truth. We fear thai the) will wonder 
and perish, that they are r to a reprobate mind, to 

believe alie that they might tffe damned, because they have 

; ore in em ; But if, reader, yon an 

d of candor, and are inclined to know the truth, and if 
in your heart only some Taint scruples arise, whether after 

all it mav not he true, that the Bible teaches a future retri- 
bution and woe, we entreat you to re-peruse this investiga- 
tion in tin 1 light and solemnities of eternity. If true, it is 
inn work for you, to he reviewed in the judgment and 
-i a moulding influence over your future well-heing. 
>ber, impartial and prayerful. 
Hut perhaps, we arc addressing some who admit future 
punishment, while they deny the eternity of punishment. 
They see the difficulty of confining all just and adequate 
punishment to this world, and the necessity of future pun- 
ishment on the principle of distributive justice, the admin- 
istration of moral government, and the reformation of the 
punished, yet they see no justice or necessity of an eternity 
of woe. The doctrine of eternal punishment we shall now 
defend. 

V. Tim ETERNITY OF PUNISHMENT. 

We have proven, that there will be future punishment 
inflicted upon the finally impenitent. Hereafter we shall 
assuni substantially and clearly fortified, 

and proceed to establish by reason, logic and Scripture, the 
me, that tie wicked deserve for their sins, eternal or 
don-ending punishment. The main object of such punish- 
ment will be to vindicate the justice and the moral govern- 



1H1 THK PUNISHMENT OF M\. 

ment of God; and the procuring cause will bo the willful 
commission of sin and rejection of salvation b> ious 

blood of Christ. The question, which now remains, and 

claims investigation, is, whether the punishment of the 
wicked in the future world will be limited, or eternal, 
Those who advocate and defend a limited future punish- 
ment, declare that the only object of punishment is correc- 
tive, and designed to reform the guilty ; while those who 
advocate eternal punishment, believe that the principal ob- 
ject of punishment is to vindicate the justice and govern- 
ment of God, and that there is therefore a necessity of its 
being eternal. 

We have heretofore spoken somewhat at large in refer- 
ence to the object of punishment, and the absurdity of a 
limited future punishment; and we would merely add, that 
since we have proven, that the most prominent object of 
punishment is, to vindicate the justice and authority of God, 
therefore there is a necessity that it should be eternal, for if 
these require a vindication at any one time, they do so to 
all eternity. Thus only God can rear up a standing monu- 
ment of his displeasure at sin, and a proof that he will not 
screen the impenitent guilty. 

But the objector to eternal punishment affirms, that all 
punishment is corrective, emendatory, therefore necessarily 
limited; for when the object is secured then it must cease 
to be. We would append a few remaks in reply. 

The point to be proved is gratuitously assumed, that all 
punishment is corrective and emendatory. If this point 
were substantiated, there would be a strong presumption 
that future punishment might cease, though it would not be 
of inevitable consequence. We readily acknowledge that 
some of the afflictions and judgments of God, which grow 
out of the providence, and the administration of his moral 
government in this world, are designed to reform the guilty. 



I in PI NI8HMSN1 01 185 

and to make the righteous mniv cautious, prudent, faithful 
and prayerful ; ye\ this does not warrant the conch 
that all punishment must rilybe corrective. The 

of God affords illustrations of this mbject. h an- 
nounces the scathing judgments of the land, as having the 
object of teaching the way <>f the Lord and inducing the 
ile to repent and reform ; bul it also declares judgments 
of extermination, and punishment of the wicked as their 
final Lot and portion, when all the means employed for their 
reformation have proved abortive and they are reprobated 
of God. The Egyptians with Pharoah, their King and 

r, form a dear exemplification of this doctrine. In 
the afflictions and judgments of the land, the Almighty de- 

I to teach the people his supreme authority and his 
mercy to the Israelites, in order to improve their moral char- 

; but when all these tailed, and Pharoah would not 
permit the people to go, the Lord delivered them with his 
outstretched arm and led them forward to the land of prom- 
ise. The King and his subjects pursued them into the Red 

where Israel were saved, and the Egyptians were 
overwhelmed beneath its rolling surges. This last judg- 
ment, winch exterminated this profligate and heartless peo- 
ple, was it designed to reform them or merely to' vindicate 
the authority and justice of God ? This is a plain ques- 
tion and a plain example. Let the Apostle Paul decide 
ion with unerring cfertainty. He says in Rom. 
ix. 17: "For the Scripture saith unto Pharoah, Even for 

ery purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show 
my power in thee, and that my name might be declared 
throughout all the earth." This same truth is recorded in 
Ex. ix. 16. Even in the temporary judgments of the land 
the Lord designed to vindicate his power and right, and 
make his name glorious in the world ; how much more so, 
in the overthrow of Pharoah and his host in the ingulfing 



180 THE PUNISHMENT of 

sea. The ruin and death which came upon the Egyptians 
had no reformatory influence on themselves ; but by it, the 
Lord vindicated his honor, and displayed his magnificence, 
and the " gTeatness of his excellency." (Ex. xv. 7.) F 
and dread came upon Moab, the land of Canaan, and all 
the surrounding nations. 

Though many judgments and mercies, the Ruler of the 
universe had employed to reform the guilty people of Sod- 
om and Gomorrah, yet all these were unavailing ; and the 
only alternative for God to vindicate his power and sustain 
the dignity of his laws, was, to overwhelm them in their 
own corruption and to exterminate them from the earth. 
They were not reformed by this last punishment, but were 
punished because they had transcended the bounds of re- 
formation, and had been given over to reprobation, and that 
God by them might teach the world his abhorrence of sin 
and rebellion, and that none shall escape his scrutiny and 
his avenging wrath. Ephraim had joined himself to his 
idols and was given over, because he had passed beyond 
recovery. So had the heathen, as noticed in the first chap- 
ter of Romans ; they became reprobates. So various have 
been the instances to mark the nature and object of punish- 
ment, that it is a source of amazement, that any should 
deny the vindictive character of punishment, and that the 
punished are set forth as an example to surrounding and 
succeeding nations. It is said, " And turning the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an 
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after 
should live ungodly." 2 Peter ii. 6. Their overthrow 
was not to reform them, but to sound forth a warning voice 
to all the ungodly, lest they should be marked next for de- 
struction. 

Should it be admitted, that all punishment is reformato- 
ry, this would not be sufficient to establish the position. 



I m ri NI8HM] NT 01 -in. 

th it all future punishment musl necessarily be limited. It 

might after all prove to be endless to all such as should re- 
main incorrigible. One thing is evident to all the advo- 

of a future limited punishment, thai the judgm 
and afflictions of this prevent lite do not reform all the 
guilty ami the wicked, therefore they are compelled V 

to the doctrine of a future woe. This being the 

I a ami analogy would teach, at least would not deny, 

th.tt the judgments and punishment inflicted upon the wick- 
ed in the future world may fail of securing the end, their 
nation; for if this may fail for any length of time, 
is no necessity against its not being the case to all 
eternity. That which has been, maybe; and that which 
Failed, may ever fail; therefore upon the ground of 
live punishment the damned may endure eternal 
wrath. Yea, one thing is certain, that if punishment is in- 
tended to reform the damned, so long as they are not re- 
formed, they must endure woe, and if they remain incorri- 
gible to all eternity, they will feel the pangs and sorrows of 
eternal death. That the wicked will remain incorrigible, 
unreformed and unchanged, true, is debateable ground, yet 
we think it may be proved. This we shall attempt, before 
we finish this discussion. We would now proceed to ad- 
vance some direct arguments in favor of the eternity of 
punishment. 

1. The Scriptures teach the eternal punishment of the 
ed by the words and phrases expressive of dur 
'•These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the 
eous into life eternal." Matth. xxv. 46. " Who shall 
be punished with everla fruction from the presence 

of Mie Lord and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 
i. 9. "It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maim- 
ed, rather than, having two hands or two feet, to b 
into everlasting fire " Matth. xviii. S. " Depart from me. 



188 THE PUNISHMENT OF six. 

cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 

his angels." Matth. xxv. 41. ? But he that shall blas- 
pheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but 
is in danger of eternal damnation ." Mark iii. 29. "And 
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: 
and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the 
beast and his image, &c." Rev. xiv. 11. " Even as Sod- 
om and Gomorrah, and the cities about them * * * 
are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of 
eternal fire ." Jude 7. All these passages go to prove 
that the punishment inflicted upon the wicked will be of 
some duration — that they prove the infliction of punish- 
ment, and that this punishment shall have duration more 
or less extended, is undeniable ; and we think that they en- 
force and establish the doctrine of punishment which shall 
be without cessation or end — eternal and everlasting. 

The literal meaning of the words eternal, everlasting, 
endless, non-ending, unending, &c, contain one and the 
same meaning — they simply mean time without end, al- 
ways being, lasting ever ; and whenever they limit time, 
it is in the use of the words, and not because of their ori- 
ginal and inherent meaning. 

The term " endless" is used twice in the New Testa- 
ment, in 1 Tim. i. 4, and in Heb. vii. 16. In the first place 
we find the original word (aperantos) derived from ".a," 
without, and "per an," limit or end, therefore its meaning 
is "unlimited," "endless," and it is used in connexion 
with "genealogies," and must be used figuratively; for no 
record of "genealogies" can be said strictly to be "end- 
less." In Heb. vii. where we find the word "endless" 
again in the English, we have the Greek word " akatalu- 
tos," derived from "a," without (or declaring a negative) 
and "katalutos," "dissolve," therefore its meaning is in- 
dissoluble, endless, everlasting ; and it stands connected 



Ill, 1N<) 

with life, speaking of Chrisl who was made a II 

i the power of an endless life.' 1 While the Jewish 
re many and their official career bu1 bri< f, I 
is the onl) Priest of the gospel, haying entered once for all 
ie Holiest, and sprinkled the mercy seal with his own 
precious blood, and he will continue to act before God as 
High Priesl until he shall resign his mediatorial reign, In 
both these places the term "endless," is figuratively 

and not literally We make these remarks in order to 
show, that the term "endless" is used in a limited sense as 
well as eternal, everlasting, &c, arid that the latter are 

ssarily just as expressive of unending duration, as the 
term endlj 

Now, we shall find, that in the Bible the word everlast- 

ttld eti mat are translations of the Greek words, " aion, 

>nios ;" the former a noun, and the latter an adjective. 
The literal and etymological definition of the word aion, is, 
always or continued being, for it is a compound word of 

ttd eimi, always being. To denote duration without 
end, or any thing existing perpetually, is the proper, classi- 
cal and grammatical use of the word. And when it is 
applied to limited duration, or to any thing of a dissoluble 
character, then it is used in an accommodated and a figura- 
tive sense. The subject and connexion in which it is em- 
ployed must determine whether it is literally or figurative- 
ly used ; and when we shall have determined in what sense 
it is used, we shall have no difficulty to settle its meaning, 
whether limited or perpetual* The rule adopted by some 
interpi . that the subject must determine 

tiling, and not its Dative, obvious meaning quality and 
determine the character of the subject, is an unsafe and a 
false guide. All the nature of a subject should do, is, to 
explain whether language is used properly and grammati- 
cally, or figuratively and in an accommodated sense. When 



190 THE PUNISHMENT of 

this is solved, the meaning is obvious. So when the terms 
eternal, everlasting and endless are employed properly and 
grammatically they designate perpetual existence, or time 
always running on and never running out ; but when they 
are used figuratively, they imply a cessation of being, or 
termination of time. 

It is an admitted rule, we believe, in all languages and in 
all logical reasoning, that language and words cannot ex- 
press more than their proper and literal meaning, but that 
they may express less, therefore, if the literal and proper 
meaning of the words, forever, eternal and everlasting, is 
nothing more than a limited time, or applied to perishing 
objects, then their figurative use must express even less, 
and they can never be applied with propriety and signifi- 
cance to the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, 
and the blessedness of heaven ; yet we learn from the Bible, 
that they are thus applied, therefore this must be their literal 
and grammatical significance, and when applied to time 
and perishing objects, it must be their figurative use, inas- 
much as language figuratively employed, is less comprehen- 
sive than when literally used. 

If therefore these words and their original (aion, aionios) 
are ever applied to things of eternity, or express eternity 
itself, then this must be there proper use, for eternity and 
future things are more comprehensive than the things of 
time, or time itself; and when so applied, they convey 
their proper and grammatical meaning to whatever applied, 
and that meaning is perpetual existence^ non-ending ; and 
that they are thus applied is beyond successful contradic- 
tion, and is even admitted by all believers in the oracles of 
God ; therefore, when applied to express the existence of 
Jehovah, they express an endless, a never-ceasing existence; 
when applied to the happiness of the righteous in the future 
world, they express the same perpetual existence ; so also 



i hi: n NI8HMBN I <>i lINi 191 

when referring t<> the punishmeni of the wicked, tip 
the permanence and interminable nature and 1>< ill 

their misery — thai their loss and ruin arable, 

iuse these words are applied to doo lulls, 

thood and possessions as in Gen. xvii, 8. "an ever- 

ion ;" ( ren. \!i\. 26, M the < \ erlasting 

lulls ;" Num. \\\ . 1 A. •• .■ . 

lasting doors ;" therefore, it is argued, thai they do not 
i rpetual being and infinite existence. This it 
ging the whole question ; it is not the province of the ad- 

U a of punishment infinite in duration, to disprove that 
terms ever express an indefinite period of time, or 
applied to perishable objects, for this they readily admit ; 
but they deny that they arc always used in this sense, and 
when that it is in any other than their figurative 

character. When expressing their radical and literal, mean- 
ing they are applied to things of an eternal existence. 
Even allowing, for the sake of argument, that these words 
are figuratively employed when speaking of punishment, 
they do not prove conclusively that future punishment will 
be finite. When everlasting is applied to hills, the word 
denotes, that the hills will last as long as the earth and time 
in which they exist ; so the doors shall endure as long as 
the building to which they- are attached — the Aaronic priest- 
shall endure as long as the Mosaic dispensation, and 
11 only be exchanged for its antitype in the gospel 
on; and Canaan which was given to Israel for 
an " everlasting possession," will a fiord room for argumen- 
tation in order to define the utmost limit of the word ever- 
lotting in this connection, for we cannot tell how long God 
should possess this country, and how long 
they would have posst ssed it, had they not forfeited it by 
sin and rebellion against God. The promise is still left on 
u, that they shall again return and inherit the land of 
their fathers from the river Euphrates to the great sea. 



192 THE PUNISHMENT OF sin. 

And as it is typical of heaven, in the last change of the 
h, it shall disappear in the more glorious reality of hea- 
ven, the resting place of all the redeemed of the Lord. So 
should we allow, that everlasting is figuratively applied to 
future misery, it must express, that the judicial punishment 
(dike tio. 2 Thess, i. 9.) inflicted upon the disobedient and 
profligate will endure, as long as the soul endures and 
eternity in which it exists — that the immortality of the soul, 
and the infinity of eternity will only be commensurate with 
the misery of the damned. According to this argument, the 
misery of the future world will be interminable. 

After what we have written, we take the position, that 
whenever the terms are applied to eternity and the objects 
of that world, they are properly and literally used, and 
mean nothing less than ever-existing and endless. We 
read in Rom. xvi. 26. " according to the commandment of 
the everlasting God ; this certainly means an ever-existing 
God. Rom. ii. 7. "To them, who seek for glory, honor 
and immortality, eternal life ;" this must imply non-ending 
blessedness. In Matth. xxv. 46. " These shall go into ever- 
lasting punishment," can mean nothing less than endless 
misery. All these, God, life, and punishment, exist in the 
future world and are described by the same word and must 
in all these places have the same meaning. We read in 
Matth. xii. 32. " But whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, 
neither in the world to come." In Mark iii. 29, the paral- 
lel passage, we read, " But he that shall blaspheme against 
the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of 
eternal damnation." These passages not only prove fu- 
ture punishment; but the eternity of that punishment. 
This every unsophisticated reader would readily admit. 
We are aware that the Universalist attempts to avoid this 
conclusion, by giving the following translation : " Neither 



mi PUNISH [M 

her in thi 

.Irw isb d '!i, and the second to tin 

Whether this will serve his purp< 
conclusion oi ill only be 

The point to be proven is, whether the S 
Jewish don by the phrase) M in this 

the Jewif 
and the k f < Jhrist v. 

.: ; for the "law and the prophets were until John, M 
I was proclaimed I And if by the 
phrase, "in the world to come," the Savior referred to the 
I age, and declared that such blasphemers should not 
given in that age, pray, when would they be forgiven ? 
Would it be after the mediatorial reign of Christ, and there- 
to! the resurrection ? Even if this be correct, how 
must now wail in hell, and continue in torment until 
he resurrection. Even this would establish the doc- 
trine of future punishment. In these passages, the Savior 
wished to teach that all such characters would never be 
forgiven, and must therefore endure " eternal damnation.' ' 
This punishment will take place in the future world, and as 
all things are unchangeable and ever-enduring there, there- 
fore this punishment will be endless. The apostle Jude, 
while speaking of Sodom and Gomorrah, declares that they 
are "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." They were 
suffering while Jude wrote, and as they had been swept 
from the world nearly 2,000 years before that time, there- 
fore their suffering must have been after death and in the 
future world: and since it is "eternal," it will be infinite 
in duration. Paul declares in 2 Thess. i. 9. that the diso- 
bedient should "be punished with everlasting destruction," 
at the time when the Lord Jesus should be revealed from 
heaven, with his Is, and when he should be ad- 

mired in all that believe ; therefore it must be in the future 
world. 



1{M THE ITMSII,: six. 

It appears to us that the argument drawn from the word 
and phrases employed to describe the punishment of the 
wicked, must he conclusive to every candid and doeile mind. 
However, we are aware, that the eaviler may find oppor- 
tunity to equivocate and distort the truth, and therefore it is 
well, that Christ and the apostles have brought to light 
clearer and more decisive proof to establish the doctrine of 
the eternity of punishment. The next argument we shall 
advance is— 

2. That the Scriptures represent the punishment of the 
wicked, and the happiness of the righteous in contrast, 
therefore opposite in character and equal in duration. It 
has been said, that there is more certainty of the infinite 
blessedness of the righteous than of the infinite misery of 
the wicked, because it is described by different words. 
Eli Ballou says, on this point : " The words 'immortal, in- 
corruptible, unfading,' are applied to an existence of happi- 
ness, but never to an existence of misery, and these terms 
give a positive assurance of the unending existence of the 
happy in heaven." Were these words applied to the 
misery of the damned, it would still be a question, whether 
they would afford a satisfactory argument to Universalists 
to prove endless woe. After all, does the Bible describe 
the misery of the damned in more equivocal terms than the 
blessedness of the righteous ? Does not the language con- 
vey the idea of immortality, and an incapacity to decay. 
Read Mark ix. 43 — 48, where the wicked shall depart into 
hell, into the fire that is quenchless ; " w r here the worm 
dieth not and the fire is not quenched" Where the gnaw- 
ing misery of the damned " dieth not," it must necessarily 
be immortal; for the Greek words " ou teleutao," are just 
as expressive of immortality as the word " athanasia." 
When the Scriptures declare that the misery of the damned 
is like " fire not quenched," is just as expressive of its " in- 



rm. pi NI8H in. 196 

ptible" and M unfading' 1 nature as though the B 
had used the very words. 

In the investigation of t] II find thai the 

happiness of heaven and the mU 
placed in contrast, as opposite portions and equal in dura- 
tion — that they are parallel in poinl of duration. 

punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matth. 

While the wicked reap as their portion M i 
lasting punishment,' ' the righteous shall inheril " lifi 

nal ;" and it is not said, that those who go into punishment, 
enter also into life, nor those who secure life, shall reap the 
portion of the wicked. Therefore as their characters were 
up, in this life, of opposite materials, their destiny is 
site, and will be equal in duration. The terms u life" 
and "punishment" are not necessarily expressive of dura- 
tion, as life may be interrupted, and punishment cease ; but 
when the word is applied to life which means continued 
Being, we have a warrant that-life shall not be interrupted, 
and that it shall be interminable. The same word (aionios) 
which is applied to life in its proper and grammatical sense, 
is applied to " punishment" in the same sense, and must 
necessarily establish the doctrine of the eternity of punish- 
ment, and frustrate all expectation of a cessation of future 
woe. If the life referred to in the text, comprises the bliss 
of saints in glory, and that this happiness will be endless, 
then the punishment of the wicked, embraces their future 
misery, and teaches that it will be eternal; for the contrast 
not only includes the opposite portions, but also their dura- 
tion. This argument is conclusive. 

However, many have admitted that the life referred to in 
the text, may mean eternal blessedness in heaven, yet pun- 
ishment need not imply f equal duration; but 
as the argument is irrefutable, that if the one is allowed to 



196 i hk PUNISHMEN1 01 

teach endless bliss, the other must necessarily 

endless woe, therefore, to avoid this inevitable conclusion, 

the Universalist has denied, that the passage has any refer- 
ence to the future world — that (as he says) the life eternal 
signifies the gospel with its blessings in this world ; and the 
"everlasting punishment" was fulfilled in the destruction 
of Jerusalem. 

Eli Ballou renders the text as follows : " These shall go 
away into the punishment of the age; but the righteous 
into the life of the age, meaning the gospel age, or dispen- 
sation of this world." Again ; " Christ said, that he would 
come in glory, and with his holy angels, and would then 
sit upon the throne of his glory ; and he affirmed, that that 
generation should not pass away, and that some who then 
heard him should not die until they saw him thus coming." 
" He then sat upon the throne of his glory, because his 
kingdom was then established in the earth — he came in his 
kingdom — and then commenced rewarding every man ac- 
cording to his works." " At. that time," (at the destruction 
of Jerusalem, ( "Christ commenced judging the world, and 
' all nations' were then placed under his retributive admin- 
istration, &c." *VYe believe, that Universalists refer this 
portion of Scripture to the destruction of Jerusalem, by 
common consent; and it shall be our object now to show r 
that such an application is erroneous, and consequently 
that it refers to the future general judgment, and the rewards 
and punishments of the spirit-world. 

I. That portion of Scripture included from verse 31 to 
46, is generally declared to be a parable by Universalists. 
If it be a parable and was designed to illustrate the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, this catastrophe of the Jew r s must cor- 
respond with the parabolic prophecy ; for if the event does 
not correspond, then it must have been fulfilled, or will be, 
in some past or future scene. But we do not admit that it 



i in: PUN! HMSN1 "i in- 

. and we do deny thai il w ned to 

teach and illustrate the destruction of Jerusalem and the 
Jewish polity. The Son of man is said to come in w his 
glory/ 9 and this could not have taken place at thai time. 
If he did, the glorj of Christ must consist in famine, 
lence, war, in helmet and shield, in slaughter and blood, 
the groans and waitings of the dead; for ill thi 
scenes rami 1 l ten JerusaL ad I and 

razed to the ground. We Irani, that the glory of ( 
consists m quite a different element Be prayed to tin- 
Father, "glorify me with the glory which 1 had with thee 
before the world was." John xvii. 5. And Paul declared, 
that since christians had suffered with Christ, "they should 
also be glorified together." Rom. viii. 17. This must 
be far different from what was displayed when the Jewish 
metropolis was ransacked; therefore the Scripture was not 
fulfilled at that time. 

2. The Son of man should come with his holy angels. 
That the term angels sometimes stands for messengers in 
figurative language, we admit ; but we insist, that the char- 
acter ascribed to them must be rigidly transferred in the 
interpretation of language. Whether the term angels means 
the identical beings, strictly so called in the Scriptures, or 
some specially commissioned messengers of God, they must 
necessarily be holy, to answer the teaching of Christ. If 
this Scripture refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, then 
the holy angels must mean the Roman army, for this was 
the agency which overthrew that city. It could not desig- 
nate the saints of God, for they did not accompany Christ 
in the overthrow of Jerusalem, and they had even fled from 
the city previously, as they had been notified to do forty 
years before. And no where is the Roman army ever 
called holy; but rather the " abomination' ' that maketh 
desolate. This second reason forbids an application of this 
text to the final subversion of Jerusalem. 



198 THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. 

3. The Son of man shall sit upon a throne of glory. 
His sitting upon the throne, presumes that he entered upon 
his judicial work, and this idea is sustained by the entire 
Scripture. Where did Christ sit upon the throne to judge 
the people at the ruin of that city ? It cannot mean that 
there and then he was invested with the judiciary and exe- 
cutive authority of his government, for this took place near- 
ly forty years prior. At the time he said, " All power is 
given me in heaven and- earth," (Matth. xxviii. 18.) then he 
was invested with this authority and right, and therefore 
he fully commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel. 

4. Before the Son of man should be gathered all nations. 
Did this take place when Jerusalem w r as destroyed ? The 
Universalists declare it was, and for their authority they 
quote Zech. xiv. 2. where it is said, " for I will gather all 
nations against Jerusalem to battle, &c." We have several 
objections against the interpretation of the words of Christ 
as given by Universalists. The first is, that the event does 
not correspond with the text; and the second is, that the 
proof given is distorted and inadequate. We ask, is it a 
fact that all nations were gathered together at that time and 
place ? Is it not rather a fact, that not a single nation was 
gathered together, much less all nations ? Neither the en- 
tire Jewish, nor Roman nation was assembled at Jerusa- 
lem. How then can this history illustrate the text ? Do 
you say, some of all nations should be and were gathered 
together ? But the text does not say, a selection of nations, 
or some out of all nations ; but all nations. This but ill 
accords with the stress and import laid upon " all men," or 
" all nations," or " all the kindred of the earth" by Universal- 
ists, when they speak of all being saved. They should be the 
last to torture the word " all" in such a way. If the fact 
does not sustain the interpretation given by these expound- 
ers of truth, neither does the proof adduced by Zech. xiv. 2. 



tin; PUNISHM1 \ I I9fl 

id ii will show, that n has 
uction of Jerusalem by ihe R 
army. At that time, that < - i i \ was depopulated and wholly 
ruined, the people were either destro} rried into 

captivity. What does the prophet ZQcheria I will 

gather all natioi do to b; ule * * * * and 

half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the ri 
of the people thall hot be cut off from the city" E 
one who has ever read the history of the downfall of Jeru- 
salem knows, that this prophecy Was not fulfilled when that 
city was destroyed by the Romans; for in this siege hun- 
dreds of thousands were slaughtered, and the rest were 
taken captives, while the prophet says, that only half should 
go into captivity and the rest of the people should he left in 
the city. The declaration of Christ can only he fulfilled' in 
si and general judgment day, 

The Son of man should separate the nations and re- 
ward them according to their character. If all nations 
were not assembled at Jerusalem, neither could they be se- 
parated ; but this should take place at that time when the 
text shall be fulfilled. The Psalmist says, " the wicked 
shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget 
God." If at Jerusalem this was fulfilled, then the Jews 
constituted the nations represented by the goats, and the 
Romans by the sheep. The blessed ones, who were the 
Roman army, received the kingdom of God which was pre- 
pared from the foundation of the world, and must have con- 
in the spoils, gold, silver and raiment taken out of the 
city. Is this the kingdom of God? Does not Paul say, 
"the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteous- 
■ and joy in the Holy Ghosl f" Rom. xiv. 17. 
f>. The wicked should he punished a1 that time with hor- 
rid ruin. Were the .lews cast into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels ! Was the destruction of Jeru- 
9 



200 THF riMSHMFN! 

salein prepared for the devil and his angels. All this is 
implied, if the Language uf Christ is applicable to this 
scene. 

7. The righteous and the wicked should he rewarded and 
punished for what they had done or left undone. Were 
the Roman army righteous, or a profligate, wicked, and 
heathen people ? Did they feed the hungry, clothe the 
naked and visit the imprisoned saints of God, and did the 
Jews neglect these tilings? Where can we learn all these 
things, authenticated by irrefutable evidences ? Does not 
even impudence itself blush at such distorted and mangled 
expositions of the holy and revered counsels of God? 

The only consistent exposition that can be given, is to 
apply the text to the judgment of the great day, and to the 
rewards and punishment of the human race, as it shall take 
place when the wicked " shall go away into everlasting 
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." 

We have been thus particular with this passage in refut- 
ing and exposing the false exposition given by Universalists, 
designed to wrest it from its obvious application to the fu- 
ture world, that we might produce similar passages in favor 
of the eternity of future punishment without needing to go 
over the same labor each time. For if we have proven one 
passage to be to the point, to sustain the doctrine of eternal 
damnation, then all of a like nature must corroborate the 
doctrine. Universalists have generally referred all the pas- 
sages, upon which the orthodox found their belief of future 
and eternal woe, to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the 
same arguments which extricate the passage, we have con- 
sidered, are more or less suitable to sweep away their false 
glosses from all. Since the passage in Matth. xxv. 40, has 
reference to the future world, and teaches the reward of the 
righteous, and the punishment of the wicked in contrast, 



i HI PUN1 IH in. 201 

and as me, their final portion mu 

and equal in duration. 
••• w bo will r< nder to every man according to Ins di 
to them, who, by patient continuance in well doing, 
for glory, honor and immortality, eternal life : bu1 unto them 
that are contentious and do not obey the truth, T » 1 1 1 obey un- 
. Indignation and wrath, tribulation and an- 
guish," &c. Rom. ii. 6 — 9. TJu> | 

- tiie doctrine, that God will reward man — 
that every man shall receive his reward according to his 

(\vc(\> — those who do well, the reward of eternal life, and 
those who obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness and 
are contentious, the reward of indignation, wrath and an- 
guish. That all this shall take place, in the future world, 
is evidenl from the fact, that they who do good, seek for 
honor, glory and immortality. All who earnestly and in- 
tt nsely strive lor nlory, the beauty, grandeur, riches and 
ecstatic felicity of heaven ; for honor, the reward and ap- 
probation which God will confer on his saints ; for immor- 
tality, the incorruptible and undying blessings, the perma- 
nent and felicitous condition of the saved in heaven — all 
these shall secure "eternal life." As these glorious bless- 
ings He beyond death and the grave, as well as eternal life, 
we presume the text has reference to the future world, not 
only in the reward of the " well doing," but also in the 
punishment of those who "do evil," with indignation and 
wtath. The reward and punishment will take place in the 
future world, at the same time, and their existence will be 
equal in duration — the bliss of heaven will be everlasting, 
and the woe of hell will be endless. 

We read in Job viii. 13, "The hope of the hypocrite 
shall perish;" and Solomon tells us in Prov, xiv. 32, "The 
righteous hath hope in his death." How opposite the 
characters of the hypocrite and the righteous ; and equally 



202 THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. 

opposite is their portion in the world to come. Christ says, 
" He that believeih on the Son hath everlasting life : and he 

that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath 
of God abideth on him" John iii. 36. While he that 
obeyeth the voice of Christ and believeth in the Father 
shall not come into condemnation, the unbeliever is con- 
demned already ; and while the believer shall enjoy ever- 
lasting life, the unbeliever shall be excluded from enjoying 
life, and upon him shall rest and abide without interruption 
and to all eternity, the wrath of a sin-avenging' God. 

Who can still doubt, that the Bible teaches the reward of 
the righteous and the punishment of the wicked in contrast, 
to be effected at the same time and equally lasting ? If true, 
then hell shall not cease to be, sooner than heaven shall 
cease. 

3. The Bible would seem to teach the impossibility of 
the wicked being converted, pardoned, and saved in the 
spirit-world. 

That the blessings of the gospel are proposed to the 
children of men upon certain unequivocal and unalterable 
conditions, we have proven heretofore ; and that the bless- 
ing of salvation may be failed of, is therefore self-evident. 
All persons, therefore, who comply not with the conditions 
proposed, who reject the means of grace, resist and stifle 
the teaching and promptings of the Holy Spirit, thwart the 
obvious design of divine goodness to lead them to repent- 
ance, harden their hearts against judgment and truth, cannot 
be made partakers of the life, righteousness and power of 
the gospel. The children of men can no more be saved, 
without complying with the terms of the gospel, than 
though such provisions had never been made. Those con- 
ditions are vital and essential points ; yea, indispensable to 
a system of salvation by faith. 



in. 908 

1. The Bible teaches that men i thai poinl 

where they sleill be given <>\er and reprobati '1 of God, It 
so, this would teach the impossibility ol tved by the 

gospel. u My spirit Shall not alws e with man, for 

thai hi flesh." («en. vi. 8. M Because 1 have called 

and j e refused ; 1 hare Btretched oul my hand, and no 
regarded, * * * I will laugh :>t \<mr calamity and 
. when your fear cometh,'* &c. Prat. L 24 — 81. 
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon 
him while he is near." Isa. lv. 6. " O, Jerusalem * * 
how often would I have gathered thy children together 
* * * and ye would not. Behold your house is left 
onto you desolate. 1 ' Matt, xxiii. 37, 38. "Behold, now 
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
2 Cor. vi. 2. " But he shall say, I tell you I know not 
whence ye are ; depart from me, all ye workers of iniqui- 
ty." Luke xiii. 27. Read also the two preceding verses. 
M Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; 
for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wis- 
dom in the grave, whither thou goest." Ecc. ix. 10. "He 
that is unjust, let him be unjust still: he that is filthy, let 
him be filthy still," &c. Rev. xxii. 11. All these passages 
prove either that some men have already passed beyond the 
point of mercy, or the possibility of arriving there ; in 
either case, the Scriptures sustain the position that there is 
a degree of wickedness, and the possibility of arriving at 
that place, whether in this world or the future is immate- 
rial, where the plan of salvation shall be unavailing, and 
ruin will be hopeless and irrecoverable ; as Solomon has 
taught us, " He that, being often reproved, hardencth his 
neck, shall suddenly he destroyed, and that without rem- 
edy." Prov. xxix. 1. The gospel is the remedy of sin 
and moral ruin; hut at the time when the cup of the trans- 
gressor shall be full, and sudden destruction shall come upon 



204 THE PUNIBHMENT OF 

him, the remedy of the gospel shall not reach his case, 
therefore the proof, thai the misery ol* the wicked will be 

endless, defies all speculative reasoning, 

2. There is no assurance in the Bible, that the damned 
in hell shall be able to exercise faith in Christ, without 
which it is impossible to please, or to come unto God. That 
faith in Christ in order to obtain salvation is an indispen- 
sable pre-requisite, is indisputable ; that a confidence in the 
mercy and willingness of Christ is essential to exercise an 
evangelical faith in him, is Scriptural ground ; and that all 
this may be exercised in the world of woe, is, at least ques- 
tionable, and we think fallacious. In order to have saving 
faith in God, we must be sensible and strongly assured, 
that the gospel is adapted and applicable to us in the situa- 
tion in which we are placed, that Christ is interceding in 
our behalf; for if we are laboring under the impression, 
that we have sinned away the day of grace, that the blood 
of Christ was never spilt to deliver from the actual pangs 
of hell, and that Christ has ceased his pleadings for the sal- 
vation of our souls, but rather pronounced the withering 
curse of the barren fig-tree, it will be absolutely impossible 
to exercise a living and purifying faith in God, a loving, 
calm and unreserved surrender to Christ. How often do 
we witness in this life, where men and women despair of 
the mercy of God, that it is impossible for them to believe 
in Christ while in this state of mind. If thus the influence 
of the mere idea, that in their case hope and grace have 
fled, rears up an insurmountable obstacle to faith, what 
will be the case when the wrath and indignation of God 
shall heavily press their souls in the blackness of darkness ? 
Will the damned then be able to believe in Christ to the 
salvation of their souls ? Could it even be proved by 
Scripture and unquestionable reasoning, that the lost in hell 
might be saved in the intermediate space of time of death 



rin: i'i \i :i>ii \ i 01 

and the n 

8. Pot ihe kingdom ol »ace and the medial 

n of Christ shall c< up, 

All \\}\o 1>. lieve, that the pi in oi 
pendent on Christ, and tl 

of God would be impossible , thai had Ch 
and died ther< 
and that alone through the mediation of Christ the influ- 
ences of grace are extended and perpetuated to man, must 
abo believe, thai when Christ shall cease to act as media- 
tor, and when " God shall be all and in all," then shall the 
kingdom of grace close up forever, and all those who are 
«* Unjust and filthy" must necessarily remain "unjus 
filthy ." When Christ shall become judge, he shall he 
clothed with the sternness and unbending rectitude of the 
if his moral government, and exercise his official duty 
in rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicki 
though there had never been a system of mercy by faith ; 
and he shall then cease to be an intercessor for man. How 
can sinners then be saved any more than thev could have 
been had Christ never died? This being the case, that sal- 
vation is impossible, the unsaved and the doomed must suf- 
fer the wrath of God and the distressing anguish inflicted 
for their sins to all eternity. 

The apostle teaches us in 1 Cor. xv. 24 — 26. "Then 
ill have delivered up the king- 
dom to God. ev.ii the Father ; when he shall put down all 
rule and all authority >wer. For he must reign, till 

he hath put all enemies under his feet. The. last enemy 

tth." After the r< - 
sludl the -end bi — i ad of the v. end of the me- 

diator i Christ shall have van- 

quished all his enemies, vindicated th< God, ren- 



TBS PUNISHMENT OF BIN, 

(lerccl honorable his law, and broken the power and wr< - 

the sceptre of death. The righteous, who "ari 

at his coming" shall stand forth in the beauty of the n 

rection-morning, redeemed in soul and body. Here then 
Christ shall cease to be a mediator and a Savior — his work 
is done up, for which he came into this world ; the obedi- 
ent shall eat the good of the land, and the incorrigible shall 
lie at his feet like a vanquished foe. If the time fur which 
the plan of salvation was instituted shall now have expired, 
then all the unsaved, after that time, must necessarily 
the unceasing misery of hell, and wail in anguish the long 
night of dreary, non-ending eternity. 

4. The sentence which shjall doom men to the misery of 
hell will be unchangeable and irrevocable. All the princi- 
ples and laws of God are as unchangeable as his own eter- 
nal character. Even in this world, God could not save men 
from sin contrary to his law, but alone in consistency with 
his laws — a remedial system of grace, that should honor 
and vindicate all the requirements and precepts of the I 
and yet bring the repentant sinner where God could justify, 
was alone -available. Now, we have seen the reward of 
life given to the righteous, and everlasting destruction pour- 
ed upon the wicked after death, after the resurrection, even 
at the judgment, when Christ's system of mercy by grace 
through faith shall have been closed up ; yet we have not 
seen that God has devised, or even promised to execute 
another plan of salvation, adapted to deliver damned spirits 
from hell. They cannot be saved by Christ's mediation, 
for that has passed by ; and how and when shall they be 
saved from the immutable sentence that doomed them to 
hell ? 

There are but two conceivable ways. God must either 
execute a plan by which to save the lost in hell consistent- 
ly with the unchangeable principles of justice by which 



rm: PUNIBHM1 N i 01 UN, 

ihey wer6doomed«j or Glse (he lost must change their 
character. The first is improbable, f! i 

given an intmiaiion to suspect any thing of the kiml; and 
the latter is impracticable and rmpossible. Since the un- 
godly in this life are unable to restore tin m 

d ami to a justified relation with 1 lira 
ently of Christ and grace*; much less can this be done in 
hell. As death is the negative of life, and can never n 
itself to life; as Impurity is just the opposite of purity, and 
cannot render itself pure; and as vice is the antagonist of 
virtue and is incapable of ever becoming virtue of itself; so 
neither can unholy spirits in woe change themselves to ho- 
liness, the. unrighteous to become riglrfeous beings. " By 
the deeds of the law shall no man living be justified." 
M Hut Christ has become the end of the law for right 
to every one that believeth." * • " 

'Thus we have proved the doctrine of future punishment 
to be eternal in its duration— that it shall be a death that 
never dies, and miseries that never end. Reader, are 
conclusions sound and Scriptural ? Is hell the -portion of 
the impenitent and incorrigible, just as certainly as heaven 
will be the happy abode of the saved and sanctified ? And 
are you forming a character which shall determine your 
destiny in the coming world, and unto which you are ap- 
proaching with awful rapidity? Then^arouse yourself and 
call upon the name of God, peradventure, his mercy is not 
yet qi . and your day of grace still lingering for the 

salvation of your soul. Sleep not on the pinnacle of such 
.dangers — hark! the tumultuous noise of the storm and the 
roarii;_ of endless woe break .through the distant 

gloom in horrific sounds! Escape for your life to 

--hold uf God, and liiul safety from tin- violence of the 
in ij still be . ease. 



•J08 THB PUNISHMENT 01 BIN. 

Then try heartily the virtue of a Saviorls blood; plead no 
merit of your own, but simply trust your soul to the all 
efficacious love and grace of Gpd in Christ. You must 
come with a heart surrendered, a ^vill submissive, and a 
soul moved with intense earnestness, and God will in no 
wise cast you out. 



CHAPT E R \ 

# 

; v A TIQ N i It M B I Ni 

u Much more then, being now justified by his bloody Wi 

shall hi sand from wrath through him? 9 « Rom. v. ( .). 

•Wk learn from the whole tenor of Scripture, that Christ 
has purchased our redemption by his precious blood, thai 
we are justified and 9aved from sin through faith in Christ, 

and that we are delivered from wrath, or the punishment 
due to sin. If, while we were yet enemies to God, the 
Lord Jesus removed every obstacle and procured the means 
by which we might be justified ; how r much more, after 
becoming the friends of Christ and partakers of divine 
righteousness, shall we be saved from wrath and eternal 
anguish. It seems very evident, that Paul believed that 
1 Christ was set forth a propitiation for the "remission 

of sins that are past," and that all who should be made 
righteous, according to the gracious plan devised and ren- 
dered efficacious by God and his Spirit, would be neces- 
sarily saved -from all punishment due to sin. This appears 
the doctrine taught in many places in the word of 
God, and which has abounded pretty extensively in i 
religious community in the habitable globe ; and mankind 
would hardly have suspected an error, or turned polemics 
in defending this fundamental doctrine of religion, had it 
not been for the speculative theory of Universalis m ; even 
now main - look np<m the hold denial of this doctrine as so 



210 SALVATION FROM SIN. 

reckless and irreverent, that they deem the course of such 

expounders of truth unworthy of notice, -<\nd sober atten- 
tion. Years agp, Universalists left the justice of Gpd mi 
touched in their pulpit and periodical discussions, and de- 
claimed wholly aWut the mercy of God; but now il 
profess/ to be the only denomination which holds strictly 
and Scripturally -to the ' doctrine- of divine justice.- Th 
denounce the doctrine of "pardon of sin and sanation* from 
the punishment due to sin, as held by the orthodox gener- 
ally, as "that easy way of salvation." Does the. reader 
inquire, whether Universalism rejects and disowns The doc- *. * 
trine of salvation from sin and- its deserved punish|nent ? • 
We rep^y, that so far as we have become acquainted with 
the vi»vvs of "Universalists relative to this doctrine,* we Jfind; , , 
that, all are loud in proclaimings that no .one can or will be 
saved from the punishment due to. sin, every -one must en- 
dure a full an# adequate punishment' for 1 all his follies and 
sins,. and that pardon or forgiveness does not jemii an 
part of the penalty of- the 4aAv. . . •■ . 

* We have^ heretofore made some r£rtf&rks in relation, to 
this suhject, and p*roved!that Universalists view punishment 
for sin as the greatest and the* most efficient means to sa,ve 
the children of men; but w T e wisli to enlarge somewhat on ■ 
this subject, to. unmask the "monster arid strip off hi^ sane-.*, 
timonious garb. We -hear much said ab.out salvation," about 
being saved and enjoying the peace of the gospel ; but' we 
would ask, what does, this salvation consist iit«£ ...what is its - 
value .and blessedness ? Let Universalists themselves 
answer. A work recently published at Utica, called *" TIm? 
Uni verbalist's Book of Reference," and lauded a*s of- pre- «? 
eminent Value, and superior to 'any they have ever issued, 
holds the following sentiment and language relative jtcMhe"-* ,- 
doctrine of salvation : tt The Bible nowhe're informs us, 
that salvation consists in being saved from the penalty oi 



LVATION FROM 8IV. 'J I I 

God'q laW| nor from deserved punishment, nor from the 
place of endless miser} . < \n the contrary , the salvation of 
the gospel consists m Being saved from darkness, fro.pi 
unbelief, from sin and all its atteddanl evil consi 
Though we believe that the punishment lin, is 

the attendant e\ il ponseqm n •■ 
evident that bothihg of the kind is intimated b) the wi 
of that Pook. AiT the) mean by the u evil consequen 
of sin, is what we understand by "this present evil world;" 
the sorrows ami afflictions, tlic calamities and adversities of 
life. 

Another writer says, in an essay, entitled "Who will be 
Saved?'' that "christian salvation is, properly, a deliver- 
anee of the soul, either from present or prospective evils, 
or both." " It was from this lost, state — this present sinful 
condition, that Jesus came to gave man. Hence it is said, 
that lie 'gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us 
from- this present evil world.' " Gal. i. 4.' " Theft this is 
the nature of christan salvation, is still further evident, from 
tke^ ftrct that Christ's mission is *n§ver spoken of as de- 
signed to- prepare men to guard against a future evil, but, in 
most cases, its object is explicitly stated to be the removal 
of present difficulty — a deliverance from a present evil and 
suffering Condition. It will be seen in all those pa- 
which speak of.Christas saving men from sin, that not the 
distant allusion is made to anything beyond the mere 
sinful slate itself/' 

Ilnw vain it was, and how incorrect, for Christ to put 
such a question to the people; if there was no- future wrath, 
nor possibility for the people to be % saved from it, tr O gen- 
eration of vipers, who hath warned you to flee the wrath 

me?*i Matt. iii. 7. 
*• Rev. Jason L . that God - will reward i 

individual tor all hit good deeds, and will punish e\er 



212 SALVATION FROM SIN. 

individual for all his evil deeds ; hence that, in the govern- 
ment of God, punishment actually deserved, is in all 
cases infallibly certain to be inflicted." " They beliere 
that Scriptural salvation is by no means au escape from 
deserved punishment." "And as the Scripture writers so 
frequently speak of ' the forgiveness of sins,' etc., and 
never mention the forgiveness of punishment, but on the 
contrary, assure us that * the wicked shall not be unpun- 
ished,' Universalists therefore, believe in the forgiveness or 
remission, not of punishment, but of sins." This Mr. 
Lewis presented a succinct statement of the faith of his 
denomination, so far and as correctly as understood by 
himself. There are two particular points in his^statement 
which should fix the attention of the reader. First, that 
every man for all his sins shall be punished with infallible 
certainty. Secondly, though God has promised to remit 
sins, yet there is no remission of punishment ; from the 
latter there is no escape. Let us add a few more testimo- 
nies to show that all writers of any note among them har- 
monize in these sentiments. 

E. H. Chapin says, " Universalism is not a doctrine 
which teaches that man shall be saved from punishment. 
6 The soul that sinneth, it shall die,' is another fundamen- 
tal article of our faith. We believe that full, adequate re- 
tribution will be poured out upon every one that doeth evil." 
Aaron B. Grosh declares as his opinion, that " the sinner 
may be certainly and fully punished, and afterwards re- 
ceive the peaceable fruits of righteousness in immortal life." 
" Universalists believe, that there are no means whereby 
the guilty can be cleared from proper and necessary pun- 
ishment ;" and they " hold to the absolutely certain and 
positively adequate punishment of sin." That the views 
of Mr. Grosh are extensively entertained and much respect- 
ed by Universalists in this State, is needless to prove ta 



\ i [on i rom m, 2 19 

my of thai faith ; and to all i ild saj , that h 

be relied upon as a correct portraiture of their 
on the doctrine of salvation. 

Mr. Wliittcin . "all men shall be rewarded ac- 

cording to their works, that the punishment of Bin ia swift. 
Bore and inevitable." Mr. Skinner oi B i,* 4 There 

is no remission of punishment, cither on account of th 

- death, or the sinner's y "' Mr. lYniald de- 
clares, that •• It (the Bible) never teaches the forgirem 

— ion of punishment for sins committed, h is the for- 
giveness of sins ; by which is understood, the blotting, or 
cleansing from, after due justice is administered." 

A. C. Thomas says, "If bringing every work into judg- 
ment, with every secret thing, whether good or bad. 
not prove that every man will be both rewarded for his 
good deeds and punished for his bad deeds, it surely does 
not prove that any man will be either rewarded, or punish- 
ed." " But is not forgiveness also a doctrine of the Bible ? 
I inly. But in what part of the Holy Writ do you find 

such an expression as the forgiveness of punishment ? 
Nowhere. The expression uniformly is the forgiveness of 
sin, the remission of sin, and the like." When a man is 
saved from sin, he ceases to commit sin ; and when lie 
ceases to commit sin, he ceases to deserve punishment for 
sin. But this does not imply a remission of the punish? 
merit deserved for sins already committed up to the period 
of being saved from sin. A man lias a fever, and is in 
pain : tjjg^physician removes or takes away the fever, and 
thus saves the*patient from the fever, and also, if you please, 
from the pain lie would teriericed if the fever had 

not been i r taken away. And so of sin — for sin 

is represei Lnd the same is equally true 

of unbelief.' 1 



814 SALVATION FROM SIN. 

The above quotations we have made in order to show, 
what views Universalists entertain relative to the doctrine 
of salvation. We would add a few passages of Scripture, 
which they usually quote as proof- texts. 

To prove, that punishment is inevitable, and that no man 
can escape from it by any means, neither by Christ, nor 
repentance, they usually quote such passages. Eccl. xii. 
14. " For God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be 
evil." Rom. ii. 6. " Who will render to every man ac- 
cording to his deeds. Col. iii. 25. " But he that doeth 
wrong shall receive for the wrong he hath done," &c. Ex.- 
xxxiv. 7. " Keeping mercy for thousands, 'forgiving in- 
iquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means 
clear the guilty." 

To prove that God will forgive sin, they quote such pas- 
sages as follow : " Mafth. i. 21. Thou shalt call his 
name Jesus : for he shall save his people from their :sins." 
Rom. xi. 26, 27. " There shall come out of Sion the De- 
liverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for 
this is my covenant unto them,' when I shall take away 
their sins." John i. 29. " Behold the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world." 

1 To^prove that God will punish all that sin deserves, and, 
afterwards forgive the sin, the';following passages are ad- 
duced : Isa^ xl. 2. '"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem 
and cry unto her, that- her warfare is accomplished, that 
her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath recei&gd of the 
Lord's hand double for all her sins." Ps. xcix. 8. " Thou 
.wast a God* that forgavest r them, though thou tookest ven- 
geance of their inventions." 

In the investigation of this subject, to adduce the teach- 
ing of the word of God, and produce a thorough refutation 



of I I i, it will be proper for us to take op tin 

jf.-t in regular order, and to replj to tl tent 

1. That punishment full and adequate for in is iri< 
ble, ami from it there is no 1 

The of the infliction of pui 

mem and the certaint) of its < xecution, should not 
interpreted as to conflict with oth< r portions of ll"iv \\ rit, 
and subvert the plan of salvation by Jesus Christ There 
must be harmony in the Scriptures, and in the plans and 
works of God* That class oi \ relied upon to prove 

the impossibility of a suspension of the threatened penalty, 
or of an escape from jusl and deserved punishment, are ev- 
idently designed to teach the just principles and holy char- 
acter of the moral government of God, Thai God has de- 
vised and established a moral government over the national 
and moral world, designed to restrain < vil, and promote ho- 

g and happiness by motives and inducements, is 
on unquestionable truth and authority. To answer the 
end of this moral government, to promote the greatest good 
of the whole community of God's rational and accountable 
intelligences, two methods were instituted. A strict and 
hearty obedience to all the requirements of our Maker ; 
this was the first aiid most desirable method ; but in 
the event of a failure in this respect, the only alternative 
left, was to exercise the penalties oflaw upon the trans 
sor. The first method of obedience would effectually bar 
out all evil from the province of moral government, and 
thus promote genera] peace, holiness and happiness among 

: the latter alternative of inflicting punishment on the 
guilty transgressor, would display the just abhorrence; of 
God against all sin in the public example of punishment On 
the disobedient, and c;ist a restraining influence over those 
who stand gazing upon the Bcene to persuade them to obey 
divine law, and nol tread in the path of transgression. 



210 SALVATION FROM BIN. 

But we find, that the regulations of divine government 
have boon rejected ; the path of holiness lending to certain 
happiness has been forsaken ; and the broad way of vice 
ending in destruction is thronged by the human race. Thus, 
the first method of securing. substantial bliss and a consci- 
entious peace has been forfeited ; and the only means left 
in the hands of God to wield his government over man, and 
secure its end, to promote the greatest good of the whole 
race of accountable creatures, was to inflict the penalty of 
the divine law on the guilty. This punishment of the re- 
bellious is an exhibition of public justice, intimating that 
God abhors wrong, and yet desires to restrain others from 
sin, and promote and perpetuate their welfare. 

We say, that God manifests public justice in punishing 
the wrong-doer, with a view to distinguish the peculiar ex- 
ercise of justice in this affair from that justice which may 
be denominated distributive, or commutative. What then 
is public justice? Whenever God manifests himself in 
stern displeasure at wrong and in the punishment of the 
guilty to vindicate the honor of his laws and to promote the 
greatest good of the whole community, then he exercises 
that species of justice. It is distinct from distributive and 
commutative justice, in this, that distributive justice exer- 
cises itself in awarding to every one the full merit of his 
conduct immediately, therefore it would destroy a state of 
probation and trial ; this is contrary to matter of fact, for 
we are in a state of trial, and we know that in this life there 
is no equal distribution of rewards and punishment : com- 
mutative justice demands the surrender of an equivalent 
for the wrong we have done to God and his law — to do 
this is inconceivable, either by obedience or by suffering 
misery. That there will be distributive and vindictive jus- 
tice displayed against man for his ungodliness when he 



shall 1 id the Line of probation, 

believe, and have proven in the cha iter on punishment. 

Hut God I public justice in his i 

mem, 11 pon which was Pounded the penaltj of law ; and 

the publi( n be pT ted in some other 

besides the infliction of i ty, that pen 

be suspended, and the culprit saved from its inflict 
This is the point to be proved, Can the penaltj of moral 
law be suspended and arrested in its execution, or not ' 
some plan be devised and adopted to answer the Bame ends 
of moral government without the infliction of t lie* full and 
adequate punishment of law, or not ! Did the coming of 
Christ, his obedience, his suffering and death, constitute, an 
expedient sufficiently worthy and in all respects adapted, 
to render it possible, and afford just and proper ground for 
God to suspend the penalty of his law, and save guilty 
men from its deserved infliction and show him benignant 
mercy, or not? Universalists answer, no — there is n 
cape from the infliction of the penalty of moral law; its 
execution is "sure, swift and inevitable." We answer, 
for this alone consists with reason and the teaching 
of God — this alone can attach any significant value to the 
sufferings of Christ, and prevent the charge of insincerity 
and solemn mockery being preferred against God in the 

itrivance and execution of the plan of saving grace. 

We would here state in few words, that Christ, by the 
merit of his blood, has only suspended the penalty of the 
and if the plan of mercy is not embrac< d by repent- 
ance and faith, while in a state of probation, that wrath will 
yet overtake the guilty and the despiser of God and effect 
their utter ruin in eternal woe. For this reason people are 
exhorted and entreated by God and man to obey the gospel 
and escape for their life to the strong-hold of grace ; not to 



SALVATION FROM SIX. 

linger on all the plain where God's judgments are pregnant 
with wrath, but hide in Christ, the sheltering Rock. 

2. Do the Scriptures teach, that the children of men can 
escape the penalty of the law ; the just and adequate pun- 
ishment of sin, in and through Christ. This proved and 
U mversalism falls a conquered foe. It is well known, that 
in civil government public justice allows the suspension of 
the penalty of the law, or the grant of a reprieve to a crim- 
inal, whenever the objects of good government can be se- 
cured, without the literal and adequate infliction of deserved 
punishment. When government can be honored, and a 
restraining influence be exercised over the community, to 
the utmost possible extent against recklessness and crime, 
the criminal may be saved from deserved punishment and 
become the object of clemency and mercy. This is mat- 
ter of fact in civil government, proved by experiment, and 
affords a proper illustration of what God has done in de- 
vising a plan of mercy, while sustaining the honor, dignity 
and object of moral law. Those therefore who deny the 
possibility of any one being delivered from the infliction of 
the penalty of moral law, and saved from the punishment 
due to sin, obviously reject the atonement of Christ as the 
foundation of salvation. This Universalism does, as we 
shall prove hereafter. 

1. In reading the word of God, we shall find various 
words and phrases employed expressive of punishment of 
sins ; such as punishment, destruction, indignation, wrath, 
&c. We wish to show, that when the Bible speaks of be- 
ing saved from wrath, that it teaches the doctrine of salva- 
tion from deserved punishment. 

We read in 1 Thess. v. 9. " For God hath not appoint- 
ed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus 
Christ." Heb. iii. 2. "In wrath remember mercy." 
These two passages would seem to teach, that salvation 



LVATIOH i ■ 

and tnercy are just the opposite of wrath* 
implies a rescue and deliverance from ruin and d< 
therefore when the wrath of God is poured oul upon the 

; iniquity, the) must be \ isited with i 
and destruction. Ps, ii. 12. "Kiss the Son, e 

, and y\ perish from the way, when his wrath is 
kindled but a little." \^ wrath meant a punishment for 
sin, those who are unreconciled with Christ, shall perish at 
the first kindlings of indignant wrath. Jer. \ii. 29. M For 
the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his 
wrath" Jer. x. 10. " At nis wrath the earth shall tumble, 
and the nations shall not bfe able to abide his indignation." 
The people sh. ill not be able to abide, for the earth shall 

shake, and they shall be rejected and forsaken, when the 

wrath of God shall be revealed, and be poured out upon 
them. Thus (»od's wrath must he punishment lor Bin. 
\i. 17. "For the great day of his wrath is come, 
and who shall he able to stand?" This wrath must menu 
utter ruin and destruction. Num. v. 11. " Phinehas the 
son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned 
my wrath away from the children of Israel, that I con- 
sumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy." This 
passage not only teaches that wrath means punishment for 
sin ; but also, that God saved the children of Israel from 
deserved punishment, which was about to consume them, 
and would have done so, had it not been for Phinehas. Ps. 
lxxxix. 46. "How long, Lord, wilt thou hide thyself, for- 
ever 1 shall thy wrath burn like fire ?" Ps. xc. 9. " All our 
days are pass* d away in thy wrath," &c. Ps. cii. 9 — 11. 
"For 1 h: ii - like bread, and mingled my drink 

with weeping; becauseof thine indignation and thy wrath: 
for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down. My days 
are like a shadow that declineth; and 1 am withered like 
grass." The anger of God means his internal displeasure 



220 \ ATH>\ ! \ 

at sin, and his wrath the full exhibition of justice against 
sin. 

2. The Bible teaches that Borne men are punished less 
than their sins deserve, therefore they must be saved from 
punishment. They are either saved from deserved punish- 
ment, or else justice does not inflict on the guilty all the 
punishment adequate to their crime. Now, either position 
is death to Universalism, which professes to maintain, that 
every man must receive a full and adequate punishment for 
all his sins, and from it there is no salvation. We read in 
Job xi. 6. "Know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee 
less than thine iniquity deserveth." Ps. ciii. 10. "He 
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us ac- 
cording to our iniquities." The first passage has been re- 
plied to, that it was the language of Zophar, the Naamath- 
ite, therefore not credible as divine, for he was not a pious 
man. We would briefly say, that it matters but very little 
by whom spoken, if it but asserts the doctrine of God. 
That the sentiment is just and truthful, we have the Bible 
as a voucher. That is enough. The Psalmist corrobor- 
ates the same principle, that men are in this world punished 
less than their iniquities deserve. If so, Universalism is 
false. Again, Ezra ix. 13. "And after all that is come 
upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, see- 
ing that thou our God hast punished us less than our ini- 
quities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this." 
Not only were the people of Israel punished for their sins ; 
but they were punished far less than their iniquities de- 
served, and from all the punishment yet due them they 
were delivered. If all this does not teach salvation from 
deserved punishment, then language cannot convey just 
ideas of any doctrine. Were any of the doctrines of Uni- 
versalism so directly taught in the Bible, think you, that it 



\i \ \ I ION i i 

would umi |>e 

though it should nullify I rrivi 

The Bible teaches thai m< n i the pen 

ally of the law and deserved punishment We have not 
only shown, that the children of m< n are and may be pun- 
ished less than their iniqi ; but that ih« 
Baved from deserved punishm point, 

ill now . Scriptural quotations. 1 Tl 

i. 10. M And to Wait for his Son from heaven, whom he 

; from the dead, e\< n Jesus, which delivered us from 

the wrath to come." This | b that punish- 

ment dors not follow sin hand in hand, hilt that it is await- 
ing the wicked, as they arc reserved to the day of judg- 
ment and perdition of ungodly men. It also declare- 

\w\> of God who wait for Christ's descent from 

re delivered from this wrath. If this does not teach 
a remission of deserved punishment, what doea ! Matth. 
xviii. 27. "Then the Lord of thai servant was moved 
with compassion, and loosed him and forgave him the debt." 
When the debt was canceled, the consequences, arrest and 
imprisonment, were withdrawn. So the Lord of heaven, 
when he pardons sins, remits all the punishment due for 
sin. Gal. iii. 13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, being made a curse for us." The Savior 
came not only to save us from sin ; but from the curse, or 
penalty of the law. It needs no argument to prove, that 

is a difference between sin, and the curse of the law — 
that the former incurs the latter; and that Christ hi 
deemed us from the penalty of tie- law, is plainly asserted, 
therefore I rod includ mission of 

ved punishraei • is plain and decisive. Ps. 

3. L. "If tl shouldest mark ini 

Lord, who shall stand ! But 
that thou mayest be feai .each, that 



222 SALVATION FROM SIN. 

when the Lord shall mark iniquities, that he docs not for- 

give— forgiveness of sins, and marking iniquities arc op- 

fce*; All those against whom the Lord shall mark rro- 

quities, shall not be able to stand ; but shall fall and be 
consumed by the just punishment of sin ; and those who 
receive forgiveness at the hand of God are delivered from 
the fearful account of sin and the consequent doom. How 
do these passages agree with the following declaration of 
A. C. Thomas, "We take the Scriptural ground, that both 
rewards and punishments are administered according to 
our works — and that every work of every man, whether it 
be good or evil, shall be brought into judgment. But when 
we treat of salvation from unbelief and sin, and the bless- 
edness of the justified state, we thankfully acknowledge 
that it is according to the grace and purpose of God." 
Aside from -the promiscuous jumble of truth and error in 
the quotation, it flatly contradicts the Psalmist, by whom 
w r e are informed, that forgiveness saves us from the punish- 
ment (or marking) of iniquities. Ez. xviii. 21, 22. "But 
if the wicked shall turn from all his sins that he hath com- 
mitted and keep all my statutes, and do that which is law- 
ful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his 
transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be 
mentioned unto him." That death is the penalty of th* 1 
law, needs no proof, and that all w T ho turn from sin, and 
live justly and righteously, shall avoid the penalty of the 
law the text declares without equivocation ; not even shall 
their transgressions be found recorded against them. How 
then shall they be fully punished for sin ? This text is de- 
cisive. Jonah iii. 10. "And God saw their works, that 
they turned from their evil way ; and God repented of the 
evil that he had said that he would do unto them ; and he 
did it not." The people of Nineveh trampled on the au- 
thority of God until their sins became heinous, and called 



I 

: 

full of CO 

ir iniquities, and d< i not: yea, many 

nd did nol stir up all his 

.." The peopl i r their iniquity. 

fully punished I The Psalmist declares that in 

u of God the <t des- 

ir iniquiti n; he turned hi 

nd did r all his wrath. 

• merit and 

•-Thou 

of thy people ; thou hast c<r 

taken away all thy wrath : thou 

from tin thine anger." 

- the doctrine of remission of sins, 

cond, of remission of punishment The two are 

bly conn cted that when the one takes place the 

jer and 
a all such \e the 

:itly the Scriptural doe- 

ir to the mind of tl . how 

shall i !cc. \ii. li. v - Foi 

aent, with i 
rcl) upon such pi prove 

anishment, 
lilty of 



' riOH I ROM BIH. 

^position of the Scriptures. The above text d< 
not assert, that any man shall be rewarded or punished;, 

bat only teaches that the characters we form here will be a 
matter of investigation hereafter; that we mutable 

to God for all secret and public acts. Instead of deducing 
the doctrine of no remission of punishment from this p 
sage, it would be more appropriate to deduce the doctrine 
of no forgiveness of sins, or evil works. This latter posi- 
tion would be no more in conflict with the whole tenor of 
Scripture than the former. The fact is, the law knows of 
no mercy or leniency ; it calls for wrath upon every trans- 
gressor : but the gospel preaches mercy and pardon, and 
opens the way to attain the righteousness of the law bv 
faith in Christ. In this way, sins may be forgiven, and 
salvation from deserved punishment may be realized. As 
Paul has said, "much more then, being now justified by 
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." 
Rom. v. 9. 

2. That Christ came to save us from sin. no orthodox 
theologian feels disposed to deny ; yea, he rather exults in 
it, takes courage and praises God. But he also believes, as 
we have clearly proven, that this salvation includes all the 
consequences and punishments of sins, whether present or 
remote. Christ docs not merely save us from the love and 
commissiori of sin ; but. also opens a way to " escape the 
just recompense of reward." Those only who neglect sal- 
vation shall fall under the wrath of a sin-avenging God. 

Now, we think that we have shown, that though punish- 
ment is sure and inevitable to the impenitent and incorrigi- 
ble, yet that God by the blood of Christ has prepared a 
way whereby all who turn from and repent of sin, and be- 
lieve in Christ, shall escape the just punishment of sin as 
well as obtain forgiveness of transgression. It is only left 
for us to prove : 



• 1 1 torn i 

:*. That all who n fall) :, " (1 

\. B. Gr< 

\Y. h of 

tion in th< •• Punishm 

the Bible. 
1 . The l \ ident, thai the wicl 

a full and i punishment for sin in this I 

and (1: proved from Prov, xi. 31. "Be- 

: ill be recompensed in the earth: 
much more the wicked and the sinner." This p 

pable of two con- 
to their b< 
the Sep tu agin t translation of this passage, ' 
whi that the Spirit of inspiration deemed the fol- 

lowing language, expressive of the sentiment of the text, 
M If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungod- 
ly and the sinner appear ?" 1 Peter iv. 18. This latter 
passage the Universaiists* commonly refer to the destruction 
of Jerusalem, but, evidently, without any propriety, as that 
in Proverbs clearly proves. The constructions which may 
put upon this passage, are the following: 1. That it 
he doctrine of punishments for error and sin. That 
if the righteous, with all their excellencies, do not escape 
the hand of chastisement and punishment for their errors 
and occasional stumbles and falls ; how shall the wicked 
pe the just judgments of heaven for their wayward- 
out and pr rebellion against God I The 
ked who defy the Almighty, shall at 
;ip the du of their impiety and sins. That 
re fully punished in the car 1 nstained 
i or by the Scriptures. Man}' wh 



rupted their irays and I 

than many of the right- 
i the 

pious; for they could not reconcile it with the justice of 
God, neither can it be, without admitting the doctrine of fu- 
ture rewards and punishments. The Psalmist aim 
stumbled in- faith to his fall, when he looked upon "the 
prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their 

ith ; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble 
as other men; neither are they plagued like other men," 
&c. Ps. lxxiii. 3 — 5. 

2. The passage may teach the reward of the righteous 
and the punishment of the wicked. If the righteous, who 
are wise in winning souls to the love and allegiance of God, 
and scatter a salutary influence abroad, receive the blessings 
of grace and holiness in this world, what may they not ex- 
pect in the world to come, when all their suffering toil shall 
be over, and they shall enter fully upon the estate of eternal 
blessedness? And since the wicked are sometimes punished 
with severe judgments from heaven, in addition to the na- 
tural consequences of sin in this world, what will their 
doom be, after the close of life, when they shall fully r 
ize the awful desert of transgression ? " Where shall the 
ungodly and the sinner appear?" If in glory and " im- 
mortal bliss," then their life of profligacy, impenitence 
and rebellion will be as salutary and glorious in its final re- 
sults, as a life of piety and godliness. This is erroneous, 
for it is subversive of truth and sound morality. The next 
passage may be found recorded in Is. xl. 2. " Speak ye 
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her ap- 
pointed time is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: 
for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her 
sins." The Universalist contends that this passage teaches, 
that the children of Israel in their Babylonian captivity 



■ 

m principle in 

II lll.it v 

I, and 
I shall 

il her sin 

illrllt. 

that the ; i but a just an I 

ring the question ; on the 

. it would seem from the circ <1 the 

Scripture, that they were punished 

until ;red of the sin of idolatry, and the re- 

f punishment due them was remitted. Thus 
1 from sin and punishment too, which con- 
clusion overthrows Universalism and establishes the doc- 
Tor which we contend. That the prophet means by 
" double,'' a great and severe abundance, is evident from 
" For your shame you shall have double, and 
for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion : therefore 

Lr land they shall possess the double; everlastin 
shall be unto them." They should have an abundant 

2. < -on teaches that the wic lot be 

il punishment. The Universal;- 

i and after jus- 
The 






* \\.\ \\ 



tare; whoever fails in this commits sin, for this Bin they 

must be punished. No matter whel at or 

small, whether it deserves punishment m nited, 

for it, they, who are guilty, must be punished. Now. dur- 
ing the time of punishment for this sin, they must obey all 
the law of God and omit no duty, or else as soon as t] 
have endured punishment for one sin, they must end 
suffering for another, and thus after having failed but once 
they will be placed under an eternally successive necessity 
of punishment for sin. Th'is would prove endless misery. 
The only escape from this conclusion is in the position, 
that the wicked may endure suffering for past offences and 
at the same time, obey perfectly all the law of God. This 
would prove the absurdity, that men can do just double, in 
a given space of time, what God requires — pay off the past 
claims of justice and render perfect obedience at the same 
time ; or else salvation and damnation may be realized by 
the same persons and at the same time they may be re- 
formed and damned, saved and guilty, justified in one sense 
and condemned in another. The only consistent conclu- 
sion is, that the wicked must either be favored with a re- 
mission of deserved punishment, or else they must endure 
the misery of an endless hell ; either is death to Univer- 
salism. 

3. The Scriptural doctrine of forgiveness of sins includes 
the remission of punishment. The Scriptural idea of the 
forgiveness of sins comprises an exemption from the fear 
of the punishment consequent upon sin, and from the pun- 
ishment of sin itself; and the bestowment of the blessings 
of everlasting life instead of deserved punishment. The 
Savior says, " God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have eternal life." In consequence of faith 
they receive the forgiveness of sins, and in this they are 



on, and h 11 
lull an ihmenl due 

>n the 

i d life 
• but of debt Th saved 

a 
punished for all their former sii 
then alter they ha v. 
ilvation. Th 

f and deserves pun- 
his love must cease before the punishment of 
sin shall close, or else the punishment would continue; 
but if they cqase to sin before the close of punishment, then 
salvation must precede and not succeed punishmc 
maintain ; and if so. they must either be - 
from deserved punishment, or else they must endure dam- 
nation at one and the same time. If 
I in the same persons and at the 
I each other, thi \ it we 

a, while enjn 

: listing punishment ; and 
the damned in hell, of eternal 

ressible glories of sal- 
A.bove all, the Savior uttere^La gross untruth when 

• sent me, shall not 

1 from deat It unto 

-nclu- 



130 

nor turn to th of infidelity, 

sistency, and glory in the d i in 

Christ, from d punishment, and fih 

ing cans* . 

In concluding this chapter, we v 

ery candid reader, if not wholly convinced, is at 

least brought to doubt, the soundness and Scriptural cl 
acter of the doctrine, " that from a just and adequate pun- 
ishment for sin there is no ( For we think, it 
is clearly proved, that salvation from sarily implies 
deliverance from punishment, and that in many places the 
Bible speaks directly of salvation from deserved punish- 
ment : also that all those who are punished for the full de- 
sert of sin cannot be saved, and that all who shall attain 
final holiness and happiness, must first be saved from de- 
served punishment through the blood of Christ. That this 
is possible, we have shown, and this constitutes the glad 
tidings of great joy, that shall be to all people. Who will 
spurn these tidings and perish in his unbelief? 



I II V i I E R VI. 



- What think ye of Christ?" "Jlnd they called them 

in nnt to speak at all nor teach i 
f Jesus" Matth. xxii. 42; Acts iv. 18. 

Ir is true, that Universalists have frequently been de- 
nounced, and arc generally looked upon by the various or- 
nommations, as being guilty of holding a refined 

infidelity; hut how far they are entitled to 

imputation will he best elucidated by showing what they 

think of Christ, of his sufferings and death, in effecting a 

plan of reconciliation. Christians are those who believe 

in Christ in all respects as taught in the word of God. 

■ who deny the nature and character of Christ are no 

entitled to the appellation of christians than those who 

spurn the atoning sufferings and death of Christ. If 

ich, and defend, that Jesus ( 

and suffered in this world in that sense and for that 

I which the Scriptures inculcate, they may have some 

claim to the -title of christian; hut if they . 
Scriptural doctrine of the atonement, and debase the 

death, they must de- 
best they can against the charge of in- 
; • Do \ :,•)> vi( w> do infid( ; n of 

nd death of Christ ! Let Thomas P 
r, who was a noted infidel. He says in hi 

h a person as Jesus Christ existed, and 

JO" 



'232 TUT. ATONDIKNT OF CIIKlM. 

thai ho was crucified — arc historical relations strictly with- 
in the limits of probability. He preached most excellent 
morality and the equality of man ; but he preached also 
against the corruptions and avarice of the Jewish pru 
and this brought upon him the hatred and vengeance of the 
whole order of the priesthood. Neither is it improbable 
that Jesus Christ had in contemplation the delivery of the 
Jewish nation from the bondage of the Romans. Between 
the tivo, however, this virtuous reformer and revolutionist 
lost his life." In the opinion of Paine, the sufferings and 
death of Christ, were merely those of a "reformer and a 
revolutionist;" and now if those Universalists who wield 
the influence and exercise the moulding hand in that fra- 
ternity, entertain views similar to thdse'of Paine, can they 
be entitled to the name, christian, any more than he was? 

Do Universalists look upon the suffering and death of 
Christ and his mission into this world, as designed to ex- 
piate the sin of man, and deliver him from the guilt and 
ruin of transgression ? Or as teaching the truth, and 
dying in attestation of his principles only ? These two 
questions unequivocally answered will decide the matter. 
It would not be very strange, if their view of the atonement 
w r ere somewhat tinctured with infidelity, since Hosea Bal- 
lou, the father of modern Universalism, frankly acknowl- 
edges, that his views of the atonement were materially 
changed by reading " deistical writings," and that then he 
soon "exploded" the common notions of the atonement. 
The work titled " Universalis t's Book of Reference," teach- 
es the following doctrine in reference to the salvation and 
sufferings of Christ : "As mankind have mistaken the na- 
ture of salvation, so they have been mistaken in regard to the 
means by which it is effected. It has been supposed that 
this salvation is effected by Christ's suffering the penahy 
due to the sinner, and bearing in his own person the pun- 



J id ITON1 mi NT OK I H 

ishmenl which the guilty only were deserving of. Bui 
where eould mankind learn such opinii ' Cert nly not 
from the Bible ; for that nowhere inform* us that , 

y of any law of God whatever \ nor 
ktnent whi l> i 
Thai Jesus miffered in consequence of our $i 

But how this eould exonerate us from 

l>l <t"< us from guilty is more than any rational 

; >fj/ understand, How then is this salvation 
Answer, by simply believing the truth" This 
ion brings to view the following opinions in refer- 
to the sufferings and death of Christ. 1. It denies 
1,1,1 r rings of Christ 2. It denies that the 

nist possess any merit or virtue to redeem 
! foi or jwtify the guilty. 3. It teaches that all 
Balvatiofi the wicked realize is effected simply by be- 
Ifeving the truth— it is truth that saves and not the blood of 
Christ: this cannot eleanse from sin. That these views 
are extensively entertained among Universalists is capable 
of proof by their own writings. 

m Lewis, in his epitome of the doctrines of Univer- 
salism, declares, that « Universalists believe, that as Jesus 
came to 'bear witness unto the truth,' not to originate it; as 
he hath 'brought life and immortality to light,' not created 
them : as the salvation of the future world is wholly 'the 
gift of God,' therefore the object of pure religion, as posf 
ed and practised in this life, is not to purchase or secure 
* e W< Iter state of being, but benefit man- 

kind here, by rendering them better and happier." What 
does this divine teach us ! That Jesus Christ came and 
died f,,r sin in order to redeem us to God and constitute us 
heirs by faith of eternal blessedness ! Not at all. He 
even denies that. Jesus Christ originated the truth he d 
dared to mankind ; his object was to bear testimony to the 



mi: 4T0NEMBN1 0] CHRIST. 

truth, and reveal, not create, life and immortality. Though 
in the opinion of this teacher in Israel, lesus Christ came 
to declare and witness unto the truth of the gOtffTel and a 
sound morality, yet alter all, all this truth and the pfacJ 
of pure religion would have no effect on the iutrnv lite, its 
blessings and influences are wholly confined to this world. 
Christ did not die to save us «from. sin, noj teach us his 
religion whereby to secure eternal glory, therefore the only 
object in the Savior's mission and teaching was to make 
men "better and happier" in this world. What atone- 
ment have we here ? None at all. What benefit of the 
sufferings and death of Christ? Not any. What is the 
object of Christ's mission into this world? Simply to 
teach and bear witness -of the truth of religion. What ben- 
efit to mankind is the truth and the religion of the Bible i 
Merely to render people " better and happier'' in tiiis 
world. But Universalists teach that all men shallbe holv 
and happy hereafter, if the practice of the religion of Christ 
does not secure this, how shall it be obtained I All this is 
simply " the gift of God." How can it be otherwise, since 
the blood of Christ, the practice of religion, and man's pre- 
sent life, all can have no influence or effect in the spirit- 
world ? To decide whether such sentiments are christian, 
or infidel, the reader need exercise nothing more than com- 
mon sense. 

That Universalist preachers sometimes declaim about the 
blood of Christ, or Christ himself, as the certain medium 
through whom all mankind shall finally and safely reach 
the glories of heaven, we do not deny, but how much mean- 
ing, and tt'hat importance, they attach to such language, 
let the preceding quotations prove. Whether delusion, in- 
sincerity, or designed deception governs their course, we 
will leave for the righteous Judge to decide in the day of 
final adjudication. Do you ask, whether such sentiments 



i 111. vmm MEM i <>i ( URII i 

ely, or are the) confined to but 1 
mhcr quotations decide. 1 1< i i Ballon 
the doctrine of the influence of the sufl is1 on 

the iin:il salvatmn of man as follov imon doc- 

tnne, which u» thai Jesus Christ earm into this 

world (b bave us in another world, is contra?) to all th* 
sentations \ found in the Scrip'tu rhere 

is \u>[ as much propriet) in exhorting people to g< i an in- 

in Jiddm,*Q thai they may inherit from him tin 
oral faculties of the body, as to exhort US to get fl 
in Christ." " It seems thai all, which the Savior did, \v;is 

a manifestation of those things which our heavenly Fa- 
ther had given us before the world began" Mr. Ballon, 
the originator of the present scheme of UniVersalism, 

an unreserved exhibition of his opinions nh'tive to the 
I. He denies thafChrist'fl death has 
any influence, or was intended to hi curing the 

tt — this was secured, lie says, for man- 
kind before the foundation of the world and was infallibly 
certain. 2. He declares, that the only object in the mis- 
sion and toil of Christ, was to make known those things in 
tor the human race. We ask, does Mr. Ballou be- 
lieve that Christ died to redeem us from the curse of the 
law. or that by the merit and efficacy of his blood we may 
procure a remission of sins ? Does he believe that without 
the ".shedding of the blood of Christ," Cod could have for- 
given sins, or that men would have trained heaven ind< 
dent of the death of Christ? " All the Savior did, f 
manifestation of those things our heavenly Father had 
given us before the <n." If so, how much better 

are the views of Ballou, Lewis and others than those of 
Thomas Paine, \\i. thai Christ died as •• a reform- 

er and revolutionist .'" Iigain, Mr. EL Ballon, says, -Christ- 
ians have for a long time believed, thai the temporal dc:^\\ 



I in: AT0NRMBN1 01 CHRIST, 

of Christ made an atonement for sin, and that the literal 
blood of the man who icas crucified has efficacy to e/ec 
from guilt ; but surchj this is carnality, and canial-mind- 
odness." So neither the death of Christ made an atone- 

it, nor saves from sin, in the estimation of this man, 
though the Bible says, M his blood cleanses from all sin." 

The voice of Mr. Ballou finds a response in many of his 
djsciples, and they have re-echoed the sentiment to the ut- 
most limits of their influence. Mr. D. Skinner of Utica, 
pronounces the common doctrine of the atonement, 
among " the absurdest dogmas that ever man believed, and 
which had their origin among the darkest ages the church 
ever witnessed;" and that instead of "being a satisfaction 
to divine justice, it would have been a most flagrant and 
eternal violation of every principle of justice." O. A. 
Skinner declares, " Neither is it necessary to the sinner's 
salvation, that one should suffer as a substitute. Every 
man must suffer in his own person all that the law threat- 
ens ; and for Jesus to take the place of the sinner would 
be doing him the highest disservice." Mr. Williamson 
asserts, that "the whole system of vicarious atonement is 
wrong — an outrage upon all justice and right, and as 
such, is pronounced by the voice of inspiration, an abomi- 
nation in the sight of the Lord" 

But the question might be asked, how, to what extent, and 
for what purpnse did Christ suffer ? If Christ did not suf- 
fer to redeem us from actual sin and the penalty of the law, 
nor as a substitute to effect a medium of salvation, what, 
and for what were his sufferings ? Hosea Ballou says, 
" We really do not comprehend, how it is that our heaven- 
ly Father cannot forgive the sins of his own children, with- 
out doing it in pursuance of such a sacrifice, as the execu- 
tion of an Infinite being on a gallows erected in the cen- 
tre of the Universe." " The sufferings which Jesus en- 



I ill N I <>i ( HI 

,/„,-, which the pie* 

tuntered, wen all in the tarn* '■ red the 

/." II. Ballon jr. would have a* be] the 

Scriptures recognif • mortal men, did 

t' lV q;ii n :\\ endure the name kind of suffering* with those 
of Christ, and tfa - enduriBg then 

with patience." "With respect lot Ilia 

suff he endured on the cross did not equal* 

lid not .exceed, those which the inhabitants 
salern \\i perience in the approaching destruc- 

tion of their city." O. A. Skinner says, " He suffered, 
the and christian fathers suffered." "Jesus gave 

himself for the redemption of the world, just as the revo- 
lutionary fathers gave themselves to effect the freedom of 
oar eountr\).' % Mr. LeFevre adds his testimony in the 
followiti v : " The object of Christ's mission, life, 

sufferings, and death, was to reconcile man to God and to 
his fellow. In this cause he shed his blood. The subject 
may be thus illustrated. The heroes of our revolution 
shed their blood in the cause of freedom, and through their 
devotedncss and sufferings, we enjoy all the advantages of 
civil and religious liberty. It may therefore be said almost 
without a metaphor, by their stripes ivc are healed." We 
need not add, that Abner Kneeland, the notorious infidel, 
though once a champion of Universalism, holds the same 
. and expresses himself in the same manner rela- 
10 the sufferings and death of Christ. 

.1 could as well, and with the same propriety, 
fo Ire or without the sufferings of Christ, as 

r, or with, is a prominent sentiment of Universalists in 
erence to the value and efficacy of Christ's death. That 
mortal m n endured as much and the same kind of suffer- 
ings as those of Christ, they unhesitatingly testify. And 
that the sufferings, blood, and death, of the apostles and early 



238 rm: ATONEMENT OF CHRIfl 

lathers were endured in the 90MU cause and for the s<> 
purpose as those of Christ ; and that tlie death and stru^ 
incident in our political revolution, is a proper illustration 
of what Christ did and suffered for the welfare of man. 
Does the Bible teach such doctrine ? Universalists reply, 
most assuredly it does. Well, we have not so learned 
Christ, nor do the above quotations correspond with the 
views we cherish of the value and efficacy of the blood of 
the Redeemer. 

We have heretofore proved, that Universalism teaches, 
that all punishment for sin is confined to this life ; that all 
the enjoyments which flow directly from the gospel are 
circumscribed by the same limits ; that the deportment of 
man, whether good or evil, shall not affect his existence in 
the future life for weal or woe, being wholly confined to 
this mundane sphere ; and that the mission of Christ into 
this woxld, his labors, his teaching, his self-denial, his pas- 
sion and death, do not affect the existence of mankind in 
the spirit-world, either one way or the other, but their in- 
fluence is confined to this world. So far as the attainment 
of future blessedness, an exemption from all evil and the 
full enjoyment of fadeless glories, are concerned, they were 
just as certain and easy of access, independent of Christ, as 
with his aid. Mr. Sawyer says, " Christ came to save his 
people from their sins, and not from the punishment of sin ; 
to save man from deserving punishment, rather than from 
punishment deserved " If the only object of Christ, and 
for which he is rightlv entitled to the name " Savior,' ' is 
to save the children of men from sinning, from deserving 
punishment, and as Universalists maintain that in this life 
sin can only be committed ; then it is evident, that all the 
efficacy of Christ's teaching and death, whatever it may be, 
lone effective in this state of being. But above all, he 
is a very inefficient Savior, for but very few, if any, are 



lit, Wlii 

! blur 

nilv they are not I 

or \\ ill i!i''. be in another u orld ; lor to it 
il the inte 

e in the ecstatic anthem of tl 
j nation, for thi 
and praise to the Lamb slain for their salvation. To Mr. 

dd the testimony of Mr. Ballou. lie 

-• Ml i!i i i' Scripture, which define the 

salvation, agree that Jesus Christ saves man from 

evil which attaches to him in the present world, and which 

of being." Mr. Whittemore 

.'Is from which Jesus came to save m- 
in this world, and for this reason he came into this world 
to save them." If Christ came to save men from the evils 
o£this world, and not of the future, and since nothing (rood 
or evil done here, shall transcend the bounds of time, there- 
fore all the work and good Christ designed^to effect for the 
human race must close with time. This being the case, 
when Universalist preachers descant on the final holiness 
and happiness of the human race in and through Christ, 
is infallibly certain because he died for all, they either 
thai they do nol sincerely believe in their own {\<>c- 
to deceiv pie by conform- 

■i in heart and 
■ in theory 
that the final salvation of the hu- 
man race is r\ Christ, why do they 
penly and 
1 the world, then none would be hoodwinked and de- 



240 Tit 

red. We ask in all candor, Lb their course ho 

coming men pro:. , : religion and 

integrity ! Why all this double-dealing, if their system is 
Founded on impregnable truth ! 'J 1 , 
picion on their theory, and on the integrity of their pro 

•nofit. Reader, scrutinize it el ttalyze its doc- 

trines, and compare them conscientiously with the Bible, 
before you intrust your well-being to it, either in this or in 
the future world ! 

But what were the sufferings of Christ, their intenseness, 
object, efficacy, and design ? What do die holy Scriptures 
h in reference to the mission, sufferings and death of 
Christ ? Were they indispensably necessary to effect the 
salvation from sin and from the penalty of the law, of any 
rational and accountable creature ? These questions an- 
swered will decide the correctness and scriptural nature of 
the faith of the orthodox, or of Universalism. They will 
turn the scale either one way or the other. 

1. Universalism says, the sufferings of Christ were not 
peculiar; they were no more than those of mortal m 
of the apostles and martyrs. But what says the Bible ! 
The prophet Isaiah says, " Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise 
him ; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt.make his 
soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed." &c. Isa. 
liii. 10. "For he h^itli made him to be sin for us who 
knew no sin," &c. 2 Cor. v. 21. " Yet we did esteem 
him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Isa. liii. 4. 
The Savior cried out at his crucifixion, ki My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me." Matth. xxvii. 46. 
Now, though such sufferings can never be predicated of 
the apostles and martyrs, for they were favored with the 
helping presence of God, and their souls were not exceed- 
ing sorrowful, even unto death ; yet we do not imagine 
that the intense and heart-rending agony of Christ, just 



1 111 r of en S41 

to tin' I actually ' urj to 

and rend ir \ alid th lent. Though Paul 

m that the < 'apt tin of our salvation was made p( 
<\\ bu fieri) • to us, that oth 

ntered into the 

the just proportion of sufii ring he acti 
requisite to demo 

inable ; 
and the Buffering of Christ w w, firom the faet that 

iUy faultless, yet he suffered for sin, and it 
inflicted by divine justice so that God might have 
Is to suspend the penalty of law and justify the un- 
He Buffered not the full penalty of law incurred by 
guilty man, but enough to answer public justice and render 
isible for God to show his righteousness in exercising 
ill repenting offenders ; as Paul teaches, "whom 
rth to be a propitiation through faith in his 
. to declare his righteousness for the remission of 
that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to de- 
clare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might 
be just, and the justifier of him who believe th in Jesus." 
Rom. iii. 25, 26. 

2. Universalism teaches that the doctrine of the vicari- 
ous sufferings of Christ " is all wrong, an outrage, absurd, 
abomination in the sight of God.''' But what does 
the Bible teach in reference to this point ? By vicarious 
sufferings is meant, that Christ suffered in the place of the 
stead and to answer the demands of public 
our substitute in a two-fold sense — he 
gave his person in the place of the person of the shiner ; 
and hr; endured his sufferings in the place of the suff< i 

to the sinner. It is true, the Savior did not endure 
of the tr 
eptable substitute to the governmi 



THE A I OF DHBU 

God for those du ra adapted 

to declare th 

and prevent the impression upon th 
-that lie was reckless of truth. 
lavs, while condescending to pardon gufl 
them participants of the joys of his throne. Had Christ 

lured the identical siffferings of the transgressors, tl 
the principles of the atonement would have heen a virtual 
commercial transaction; the sufferings of Christ would 
have been the payment of a debt, a liquidation of all the 
obligations standing against the sinner, therefore he would 
be justly released from the penalty of the law and all de- 
served punishment — he would never again be liable to pun- 
ishment. Whereas, the atonement only provides an oppor- 
tunity of being released, a remedy and the privilege of se- 
curing a reprieve by faith in Christ. But if the sufferings 
of Christ were of such a character as affords sufficient 
grounds for God to exercise his pardoning clemency to re- 
penting rebels, and still manifest an uncompromising ab- 
horence at wrong and sin, shield his government from the 
imputations of imbecility, falsehood and injustice, and his 
character from cowardice, profligacy, and tampering with 
sin, then they were sufficient. 

The apostle Paul plainly inculcates the doctrine, that, 
though the Savior did not endure the identical sufferings 
due to transgressors, yet that it was indispensable that he 
should suffer vicariously for the children of men. Gal. iii. 
13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
being made a curse for us: for it is written, ' Cursed is 
every one that hangeth on a tree.' " 

Inasmuch as the children of men violated the sanctions 
of the law, they incurred its penalty or curse — they were 
liable to its execration and punishment ; but from the curse 
and punishment of the law, Christ redeemed and set them 



I 

The 

- 

ui the 

. 

I to the curse and punishment of 

I tree, through Christ by 

rings of Christ, though differ- 

of the wi endured in 

forth 
the ri is and affi 

:id for hii uiliv, 

ist. In th 
e from punisln ihe <ruilt of si i 

laid: " there is now no condemnation to them th; 
in Chj -." If in Christ, the believer is saved from 

, therefore from guilt, for whei there 

condemnation must fasten its corroding grasp upon the 
oks upon the sinner, through Chris 
Inned and had always ; 
: because he " does that whi 
and lives M not after the flesh but after the id all 

us and follies shall no more be accouir s1 him. 

Indeed, the repentin from 

the law of sin and death by f the spirit of life in 

Chri- true, it u 

he has been'a sinner, but he is no more tn 

sufferings of Chrif id not an 



211 TH' KENT Or CHRU 

"abomination in the sight of God," we quote from b. liii. 

5, 6. "But he was wounded for our transgressions ; 
he was bruised for our iniquities: th ment of 

our peace was upon him; and with his stripes n 
healed. All we like sheep, liave gone astray ; we hi 
turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid 
on him the iniquity of lis all" The Prophet foretold 
that Jesus Christ should suffer, "and bear the sins of 
many." He also taught the doctrine that he should suffer 
as a substitute for our sins and not his own, and that upon 
him the Lord should lay the iniquity of us all. The 
Savior gave his body as a sacrifice for the person of the 
sinner, and his sufferings were endured as an expiation for 
his transgressions. If this does not teach the atoning sacri- 
fice and substitutionary sufferings of Christ, then language 
is inadequate to express the doctrine. 

" For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no 
sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
him." 2 Cor. v. 21. The Lord Jesus was made a sin- 
offering for the children of men, that they might become 
partakers of the righteousness of God. For any one to 
say that the sufferings of Christ were not requisite to se- 
cure the mercy of God, and to atone for human foibles and 
sins, is to incur the guilt of charging the works and plans 
of God with hypocrisy ; because the Scriptures would seem 
to teach, that the sufferings of Christ were atoning in their 
nature, and requisite as a sin-offering to render the right- 
eousness of God attainable by those who are sinful and 
depraved. 

1 Peter ii. 22 — 24. " Who did no sin, neither was guile 
found in his mouth : who, when he was reviled, reviled not 
again; when he suffered, he threatened not ;' but commit- 
ted himself to him who judgeth righteously ; who his 
own self bear our sin in his own body on the tree, that we 



I ill ATONEMENT 240 

• : lo sins, should live unto righteousness : by. whose 
$ tripes ye were healed." Her the innoi 

and righteousness of Christ, and thai he voluntarily took 
upon himself the sins and follies of the children of men, 
suffering for them in their place ; so that by his stripes we 
are healed. These ich the substitution* 

of ( 'lirisi and their <li\ ine and healing effi- 
We read in chapter iii. is. " For Chris! also hath 
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
bring us to God." He suffered not for himself, foT he was 
holy and separate from sinners ■ but for the sins of men — 
for the unjust, that he might thereby bring them to 
Language can not more emphatically and adequately 
, vicarious sufferings of Christ and the merit of 
lood, than the above passages of Scriptures. We 
not quote any more Scripture to defend and fortify the 
ine of the vicarious sufferings of Christ; and to show 
that instead of its being "all wrong," "absurd," "and an 
abomination in the sight of God," it is one of the most 
glorious, benevolent, and profoundly wise doctrines of the 
Bible. That it is an essential feature in the great and salu- 
seheme of God. 
ii. Uiiiversalism teaches, that men are not saved from sin 
and brought to heaven by the sufferings, blood and death 
of Christ ; but that all this is effected by simply believing 
the truth — that the " sufferings of Christ were in conse- 
quence of sin," but not for sin and to condemn sin in the 
Hut v\ hat says the Bible? Does the truth save 
men from sin independently of Christ ? or is salvation at- 
tributable to the blood and death of Christ? Paul teaches 
his Hebrew brethren the following doctrine, which would 
: in open conflict with Univcrsalism. Heb. ix. 24 — 26. 
k - For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with 
Is, which are the figure of the true; but into heaven 



'I m. LTONJ 

I the pn < Sod for i 

hould off '■ 

reth into the b 
for then must 

te world ; but now one 

d, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself '." 
Then it was not by the truth alone, but by the sacrifice of 
ist, that sin was and is still put away. Nor could ( I 

e sin prior to and independently of the blood 
of Christ as he can since. Christ died, that God mi 
forgive sin. 

k - And ve know that he was manifested to take away our 
sins; and in him is no sin." 1 John hi. 5. If sins could 
have been remitted without Christ, and by simply believing 
the truth, then sins might have been taken away with- 
out "the manifestation of the San of God; for the proph- 
ets and apostles might have revealed and taught the truth 

efficiently and clearly through the inspiration of < 
ns Christ did. But Christ did that which no him 

could effect — made an atonement by the 
himself, in order to i. y sin. 1 John i. 7. "The 

blood of Jesus Christ his Son clennseth from all sin-" 
This is the doctrine of the Bible, but not of Univei 
ism ; for that teaches that the blood of Christ is no. no 
sacred, precious and valuable than the blood of the proph- 
ets, apostles, and of martyred saints ; men are saved and 
cleansed from sin by simply believing the truth. It is 
true, that truth is mighty and efficient, but all its effi- 

y and power is wholly derived from the atoning 
of Christ. The law and truth of God could n< 
and reconcile fallen and sinful ' ithout the effic 

of the precious blood of Christ. So thought tli 
Paul when he said, " Be it known unto you ti m< d 

! brethren, that through this man is preached unto you 



THE ATONRMKNT OJ 4 «£ 1? 

and bj him all that believe are 

from which \ 6 could not be justi- 
fied by the law of Moses." lets xiii 38,39 "Neither 
is there salration in r: lor there is no other name 

heaven given among men, win e must be 

ivniiou from sin and entrance into 
than from 
It cam I scted by any other means than the 

blood and the d atoning sufferings. God cannot 

i sin upon any other consideration than the infinite 
of Christ, and declare his righteousness before 
; inverse. Christ sublimely taught the world the in- 
finite value and importance of his mission when he said, 
14 I am the way, and the truth, and the life ; no man cometh 
unto the Pathir but by me.'* John xiv. 6. That is the 
only way to reach heaven, all the assertions and philosophy 
of men to the contrary notwithstanding. We are saved by 
grace, and pardoned by the merit of the Savior's sacrifice. 
So testified the prophets, Christ and the inspired apostles, 
in despite of false teachers who should arise in the last 
times and " bring in damnable heresies, even denying the 
Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift 
destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; 
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken 
of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned 
aerchandise of you ; whose judgment now of 
a long time lingered] not and their damnation slumbereth 
' 1 it. 1 — 3. Since Universalists virtually, and 

many verbally deny the Lord that bought them with his 
own "precious blood,'' the render may judge how appro- 
priate the language of Peter is in application to them. 

! either to assume and defend the 
position, that man has not forfeited the favor of God and 
his claim to he ins, consequently that he does 

11 



218 THE AIONKM1.M 01 CHRlSl 

not stand in need of being redeemed by the blood of Christ, 
and that the sufferings of Christ were endured as a refor- 
mer, and in attestation of truth ; or else he must admit the 
fallen and lost condition of man, that God's favor and 
heaven were forfeited by sin, and that Christ came to re- 
deem him from the curse of the law, and cleanse him by 
his blood from all sin. The former is Universalism and 
infidelity, while the latter alone accords with the doctrines 
of the Bible, and is sound orthodoxy. 

In the discussion of this subject, the reader must be sen- 
sibly impressed, that the difference between the atonement 
of Christ as taught in the Bible, and the doctrine of Uni- 
versalism on this momentous and solemn question, is as 
great as the distance between heaven and hell. Either one 
or the other must be false ; for they are opposites, and can- 
not both be true. And since the Bible proclaims the will 
of God on this subject, and lays a sure and trust-worthy 
foundation against the day to come ; Universalism must be 
false, dishonoring to God and unworthy of confidence, and 
unsafe to rely upon for present peace and our future well- 
being. We ask every reader — will you, dare you, commit 
yourself to the guidance of such leaders and teachers who 
reject the precious doctrine of atoning mercies, and "deny 
the Lord who bought them ?" Beware, lest your careless- 
ness and folly prove your ruin and everlasting overthrow 
Dig deep and build your hope on Christ, the only founda- 
tion, then you shall stand secure and bid defiance to the 
winds, the tempests, the rains and the flood. The frown- 
ing billows may try your stability and foam in tumultuous 
rage at your feet, yet you shall stand unmoved on the Rock, 
May the precious influence of the atonement of Christ 
deanse you from all sin and build you up in the most holy 
faith of the gospel, and finally make you partners of the 
thione of Gcd, crown your head, and place in your hand 
the unfading palm of endless victory ! 



C 11 A PTE R VII. 

REPENTANCE, l A 11 1 1 WD REGENERATION. 

M But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert 

the gospel of Christ." Gal. i. 7. 

No sooner had Paul planted a christian church in Galatia, 
riven them sound and wholesome instruction and antici- 
to witness their spiritual prosperity, than certain 
Judaizing teachers assailed the gospel instructions which 
those brethren had imbibed, with shrewdness and violence, 
in order to unsettle their minds and turn them away from 
the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. They were injuri- 
ous to the welfare of this church, and materially troubled the 
people of God, residing in that place. In addition to all 
this, their movements created many anxieties and perplex- 
ing cares to the Apostle himself. His mind was filled with 
agony and racking distress, lest the brethren should be 
seduced from the gospel of God, and make shipwreck of 
their faith. 

The Scriptures clearly and imperatively teach repent- 
ance, faith and regeneration, as christian virtues, and as in- 
dispensably necessary to secure deliverance from sin, the 
forgiving mercy of God, and everlasting life ; but of late 
years men have risen up who teach with much stress and 
dogmatism, that all the world have erred and misconceived 
the teachings of the Bible on these subjects, and thai God 
has now been pleased to pour light upon the dark world, 
through their efficient agency. The preachers of the doc- 



250 REP1 * UTH AND REOEN1 

trincs of Universalism give utterance to the words, repent- 
ance, faith, and regeneration, in their writings and public 
ministrations ; but it will be well for the people to under- 
stand what they mean by such phrases, and whether they 
teach God's truth, or a perverted gospel. It is not always 
advisable for deceivers and false apostles to reject openly 
what God teaches, but to adulterate truth with error suffi- 
ciently to thwart its object and secure their end. So it is 
with the doctrines, we have mentioned, when handled by 
Universalists; while they employ the words, they reject 
their vital character and conditional nature, and thus neu- 
tralize their obvious design and intended blessing. In 
order to secure the welfare of the soul and everlasting life, 
next in importance to the doctrine of the cross of Christ, 
stand repentance, faith and regeneration. But with Uni- 
versalists, these things are of small account; for as sin can 
never forfeit the favor of God and man's title to heaven, 
so neither are the duties we have mentioned, adapted and 
designed to secure the blessings of God and the glories of 
the world to come. It is well for the world to understand 
these things. 

1. Repentance, Faith and the Neiv- Birth, how under- 
stood by Universalists. The teachers of this Faith gener- 
ally agree; mat whenever the children of men shall reform 
in life for the better, then the truths of the doctrines above 
referred to, are carried out and fully obeyed ; but when they 
speak relative to the object and conditional character of 
these doctrines, they disagree. — Some say, that they are 
not essential to secure the salvation and blessings of God 
in this life ; others declare, that they are so in a certain 
sense; while others deem them necessary to enjoy religion 
and the blessings of God in this world. They all agree, 
that these duties, together with religion, have no influence 
on the future destiny of the children of men — that final sal- 



fTAN< ' ; (, n 

ration and the gloria - of heaven arc in nowise depei 
on faith, repentance and regem r U the influence 

they can possibly exert, is wholly confined to this world. 
Whether this position is Scriptural and wofrthj ofchriiBtian 
confidence, need be examined into, 

A certain writer, who uses the signature of" W, S. B. M 
in an l]ss;i\ <»n Repentance, says, that " in its legitimate 
and evangelical sense, Repentance denotes a change for the 

, in one's mind, feelings, desires, resolutions, faith — 
the principles of action." This Essaj is ttoi vers- objec- 
tionable in its exposition of the nature of repentance, while 

it leaves untouched the conditional character of this duty and 
the consequences when not complied with. E. H. Chapin 
" Repentance we believe to be, not merely contrition 
ami sorrow tor sin, hut reformation. A change of mind or 
of purpose, that exhibits itself by the actions of a life which 
shineth brighter and brighter, even unto the perfect day. 
olieve that it is a gradual work." "' Without holi- 
ness,' we repeat, he cannot ' see the Lord ;' we add, with- 
out repentance he cannot be holy." This last writer be- 
longs to the class, called Restorationists, who believe, that 
all who are not fully punished in this life, must endure the 
pains of hell in the next, more or less, according to the de- 
serts of sin. That repentance is a pre-requisite to holiness, 
is most fully believed by us, and also that holiness is never 
attainable without it by our apostate race. That it con- 
not merely in a godly sorrow and deep compunction 
fur sin, hut also in denying and forsaking worldly lusts and 
all ungodliness, living soberly, righteously and godly in this 
present world, looking tor and anticipating the revelation of 
Jesus Christ. The prophet says, "let the wicked forsake 
ad the unrighteous man his thoughts" — "Cease 
to do evil and learn to do well/' Men may change in feel- 
ings, sentiments and resolutions, even forsake vice and do 



REF1 I LITE kf I ION. 

better ; still they may be void of genuine repentance, hav- 
ing never felt a godly sorrow for sin, nor turned away from 
it with loathing as extremely odious in the sight of God, 
but only from motives of self-interest and persona] consid- 
eration. Such repentance is false and worthless in the 
sight of God. 

When a man repents before God, he looks over and con- 
siders his past life, his wanderings, his ingratitude, his folly 
and his baseness, he feels confounded, and is overwhelmed 
with distressing grief in his heart, he resolves to turn av. 
from his former manner of life, and implores God for par- 
doning mercy, light and grace through Jesus Christ. This 
is repentance, and it is not a work so gradual as to last a 
life-long. He that repents as the gospel requires, does not 
lay a foundation for future, or life-time repentance, provi- 
ded he lives conformably to the standard of God's holy 
word. 

But Faith, what is that ? Men who have been blessed 
with a depth of knowledge in divine things, and who have 
been examples of piety, of knowledge, and in clear discern- 
ment, have usually divided faith into persuasion, assent, 
and a hearty and practical reception of the truths of the 
gospel. Universalists teach, that there is but one simple 
element in faith, and that is, a simple belief of any truth 
on evidence, or what divines denominate, an historical faith. 
Mr. Williamson declares, that " christian faith, is a belief in 
the mission and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so far 
as the nature of the thing itself is concerned, it differs not 
from faith in any thing else." "This is faith, and it is 
produced by the same means, and is in its nature the same 
as faith exercised upon any other subject * * * there 
is no more need of a miracle, or of any supernatural agen- 
cy to produce faith in Christ, than to secure faith in any 
thing else, which you receive on the strength of evidence." 
M Christian faith is, in its nature, simply the assent which 



REPKN I vv R, i Ml 'M AND i: 

i to tin truth M of anj thing from the force 
of the evidence which attends it. 

For instance, w c have been informed, thai there is auch 
a city as Pekin, the metropolis of China, and thia informa- 
tion is of such a character as tq be satisfactory, and has' 
precluded all doubt on the subject Our faith in th< 

ce, and the geographical situation of this city, is noth- 
ing more or less than genuine faith ; the difference is only 
in the subject on which we believe, and not in the nature 
of faith. Whenever wc believe in Christ, as we believe in 
the existence of Pekin, then we are christians. This is the 
drift of the argument of Mr. Williamson, and of all Univer- 
i ence to faith in Christ. Thomas Paine, the 
noted infidel, believed, that there was no doubt in reference 
to the existence of such a person as Jesus Christ, and that 
he was a man eminently moral, and baptised with the spirit 

of wisdom, yet this man was far from being a christian 

nay. he was a downright infidel in theory and practice. 
If the faith of Mr. Williamson is genuine and evangelical, 
and sufficient to constitute any person a christian, why was 
this infidel not a christian? Can such faith be more puri- 
fying and precious than rank infidelity ? Other beings have 
the same intellectual faith, founded on clear and strong evi- 
dence, and yet we believe that they are far from being 
christians. St. James says, while treating on the subject 
of faith, "the devils also believe and tremble." (James ii. 
19.) In the days of Christ the devils believed him to be 
the Son of God, (Luke viii. 28,) yet they v/ere far from 
beings christians. Either devils must be christians, or else 
the faith taught by I .'nivorsaliste is greatly and fatally de- 
fective, and is in nowise the faith of the Bible. Indeed, 
there are hundreds and thousands of people who believe 
that the mission and teaching of Christ are true, yet they 
are undeniably in the "gall of bitterness and in the bonds 



264 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

of iniquity." Many of the Jews, in the days of the Mes- 
siah, were fully persuaded, that Jesus Christ was the p 
mised Savior, and in the deep sanctuary of the soul th< 
lurked not a doubt ; still, for fear of the people and of be- 
ing expelled from the synagogue, they dared not confess 
him. And such, instead of being christians, were children 
of the devil and were exposed to the damnation of hell. 

The following quotation we make from the " Universal- 
ist's Book of Reference. " While the authors descant on 
salvation and damnation, they ask and answer this ques- 
tion: "What must we believe? Ask the Calvin ist, the Ar- 
minian, and the Universalist what we must believe, and 
they will all tell yon, and tell you very truly too, and in the 
language of Scripture; 'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved/ Ask them, if our simply believ- 
ing that there was such a person as Jesus Christ will be 
sufficient, and they will all tell you, no. And they will as- 
sign as a reason for this, that a man may believe that there 
was such a person, and at the same time believe him to 
have been an impostor. So far then, these three classes 
of christians, embracing all who profess the christian name, 
are perfectly agreed, And if you ask, what then must we 
believe about Jesus Christ, they will tell you that every 
man is required to believe that Jesus Christ is his Savior."' 
After this, the authors state, that these classes of religion- 
ists diverge in opinion — the Calvinist runs into the doctrine 
of particular election, that Christ is the Savior of those 
only who are. elected- — while the Arminian asserts, that 
Christ is the Savior of those who believe him to be their 
Savior and not before ; but the Universalist believes, that 
Christ is the actual Savior of every, rational being. Now r 
it is undeniably true, that God is a Savior to those who be- 
lieve in a sense in which he is not of all mankind, Univer- 
salism to the contrary notwithstanding. It is written, "that 



KIPI \ I \\« E, I A I 1 II AM) Ki Q] NB1 \ I ION. 265 

Jesus Chrisl is sent to be the Savior of the world," (1 
Jolm i\ . i t ;) and thai hef is the special Savior of then that 
believe. He is the remedy y *Ji<l effects a cure when the 
Physician is invited and the prescriptions are followed — he 
is the way to the Father, the only \\ those who 

have traveled tins way of holiness have enjoyed the ' 
ijiga of this fray actually, and reaped the glorious reward. 

faith the Bible requires, in order to constitute the 
children of men christians, is thai which works by love, 
purifies the heart and overcomes the world. The penitent 
sinner is required to withdraw all confidence and depend- 
ence from himself, and thrust himself helpless into the 
arms of his crucified and risen Redeemer, and cry, "Lord, 

>r ! perish !" 
A person may be fully persuaded of the truths of the 
gospel, of the advent of tjie Messiah, and of the grand ob- 
je» t for which he entered into the world ; he may assent 
intellectually to these truths and cherish no doubt in refer- 
ence to the'nH still all this will not constitute him a chris- 
tian. His faith must be of a different cast, must be char- 
acterized by a disposition to grasp the precious promises of 
God, and a determination to do the Father's will, to submit 
to his requirements and give up all for Christ ; then he shall 

ss the " substance t of things hoped for and the evi- 
dence of things not seen,' 7 and believe that God exists and 

he is the reu arder of all who diligently seek" for his 
mercies, This faith will be righteous, and introduce the 
1 into the favor of God, it corres- 
ponds with whal h< . and takes hold of the 
merits of Chrisl as the only available means to gain the fa- 
vor of God and an acceptance with him. This is faith — 
I Jaith, If trusts and does the will of God as 
well as believes the truthfulness of his word. This faith not 
uiilv believes that Christ died, thai he came into this world 
i i 



REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

for this purpose, and that lie died for me; but it also influ- 
ences the soul to struggle and agonize for his grace, to be 
clothed with the Savior's righteousness, and to be strength- 
ened with might for every emergency and duty of life. 
Hundreds of people have no doubt of the mission and 
teachings of Christ, and that he came to be the Savior of 
the world, yet they are rebels against God, wicked and pro- 
fane, profligate and dishonoring religion. But not so with 
those who have genuinely believed in Christ ; their souls 
are washed and purified; they are obedient to God and- 
they have overcome the world, rejoicing in prospect of the 
second advent of him who is appointed the Judge of the 
world. 

But what is Regeneration ? That the pulpits occupied 
by Universalist preachers sound forth the terms regenera- 
tion and the new-birth, that they do not banish them from 
their discourses is evident ; but that they do not mean by 
them what is commonly understood is equally manifest. 
That they spurn the common notions of the new-birth, and 
that their definition is a caricature of the truth, we shall be 
able to show by their own language and arguments. 

Jason Lewis, while speaking in the name of the denomi- 
nation, says, "We further believe, that though all are God's 
children by creation, yet that those who imbibe his spirit 
and imitate his conduct, become his children in a different 
sense, being characteristically so ; and that such are repre- 
sented in the Scriptures as being 'begotten of God,' 'born 
of God,' &e." "We thus understand that the new-birth, 
usually so called, consists in the possession and practical 
exercise of that love which is inherent in Jehovah, and was 
manifested in Jesus Christ. And the way in which this 
filiation of mankind is effected, we understand to be, not by 
a miracle, but by means of faith in Christ, who is the im- 
age of God, or, which amounts to the same, by fully be- 
lieving the gospel of the grace of God.'' 



\ M I . 1 \1 I II \\h R1 ..I'M K I HON. 

That Mr. Lewis contends for such a new-birth at con- 
sists in the external character of man, in the principles ol 
morality, is obvious from his own Language, when he says, 
that those who "imbibe the spirit and imitate the conduct" 
of God, arc his children " characteristically" H< 
eludes all ideas of an internal change of soul, effected by 
the spirit and grace of God. This characteristic change of 
man which corresponds with the ideas of regeneration, he 
says, is effected by " fully believing the gospel of the grace 
of God." It should he recollected, that the faith for which 
Universalists contend, is a simple assent of the mind to the 
truth of the gospel on evidence. Because the gospel is at- 
tended with such an array of evidence as to prove its ori- 
gin to be from God, and its object benevolence to man, so 
as to convince the children of men of its truthfulness, there- 
fore this conviction or persuasion of mind, constitutes them 
characteristically the children of God. The amount of the 
matter is, that an historical faith, resulting in morality of 
character, is the new-birth of the Bible. This is Univer- 
salism. 

Another writer, under the signature of "A. C. T." whom 
we suppose to be A. C. Thomas, in an Essay on the new- 
birth, holds the following language and sentiments : " The 
doctrine of the new birth, as may clearly be shown, is re- 
solved into practical conformity to the heavenly law. 
Righteousness of life is the end to be attained ; and this is 
to be wrought by purifying the heart, and this, again, by 
enlightening the understanding.''' But the question might 
be asked, how shall the understanding, heart and life be- 
come thus changed? He answers: "He who is in error, 
is to be made acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus ; 
he who is swayed by evil feeling and. motives, is to be 
brought under the influence of the love of God ; and he 
who is wandering in the dark mazes of sin, is to he intro- 



"258 Kfcl'LMA.v »., 1A1111 AND Ki.t. i:\lka I Los . 

faced to the path of the just," cVv. After stating, thai the 
" Jew must be converted from Judaism by faith in the M 
siah," and that the hearts of men must be influenced b 
active faith, purifying the heart, and that this faith of .tin 
head, and love of the heart must be made manifest in the 
life, showing "the morality of the new-birth £■ lie declares, 
that " in-.-this Scriptural exposition, nothing supernatural is 
implied, and nothing that involves the idea of a change of 
nature." " The understanding is first to be convinced, by 
art appeal to the evidences of the truth, thht Jesus is the 
Christ — and whosoever thus believes is bom of God" So 
it must be, that if devils believe*, that Jesus is the Christ, by 
.% an appeal to/ unquestionable evidenoes,*then they are also 
... bora of God.' He states that believers sire the "first fruits 
of the Spirit^' .anil -that they "are a sample of the harvest,'" 
when the^fultand final' redemption shall take place, it will 
not merely include* "the believers only— (for these were 
simply the first fruits)-^— but the harves.t also, the whole 
world." If this writer designs to teach any thing* mofe 
t>y the new-birtli than a, change corresponding to that of a 
reclaimed drunkard, a reformed gambler, spendthrift or 

' vagabond, a man who changes his views, feelings and ac- 
tion in reference to a party, then we are at a loss to under- 
stand the upshot of his reasoning.' We hear not a word of 
repentance, -the imploring cry for mercy while the heart 
throbs and sinks beneath ihe beating waves of conscious 

*guilt, nor of God justifying the believing soul in the name 
and by the merits of Christ, washing him in the crimson 
tide of Calvary. The fact app*ears to be; the man who for- 
sakes orthodoxy ; and in views, feelings and activity be- 
comes identified with Universalism, is born again and 

- "enjoys a special salvation in- faith and hope/' looking for 
universal salvation and holiness. This is, however, far 
from being born from above by ilje Spirit find "i .-mV of 
Christ Jesus. 



ENTAN4 !-, I All ll \M) i;i i.i.m i;ai VOX 

E. H. CI • food 

rotation, ilic momentary itnpulsi , thej a day ;"* 

but in M a fixed r 1 1 1 < 1 an ml 

upward journeying in the w 

to be born from above," &c. No change of hi 

tions of the spirit of < rod, nor a n ception 
of that * oul by which we know, that we h 

passed from death tinto Hie. A mere moral character is 
made to be the new birth, without the living and firm 1> 
of renewing grace in the heart 

Mr. LeFevre says, that " their views of it," (the new 
birth,) " may materially differ from those generally enter- 
tained/' He compares it to the revolution -of a nation from 
(drains and oppression to liberty and the rank of nations. 

Mr. Williamson declares, that " the radical change of the 
whole moral nature of man, brought about by the agency 
of the Holy Ghost, and amounting to a new creation" 
which many " profess to have experienced," M we were 
never able to discover it in their lives, or conversation." 
This proves that the"* above writer cannot discern what hun- 
dreds of thousands have become acquainted with by- a bless- 
ed experience and testified repeatedly to a dying world. 

"Mr. Hammond says, " To be born again, could mean 
nothing less than coming forth to a knowledge, or a belief, 
in the doctrine of life and immortality, through the medium 
* of the Savior of the world." Mr. Skinner' asks the ques- 
tion, u Can we suppose, in the work of conversion, there 
:iy supernatural in He replies, " We 

art converted in tin . we are redeemed from any 

error in science, or \ nt" How much Bible re- 

aeration is taught by this preacher of 1 aiveTsalism I And 
then he ad Is, •• To constitute man a true christian, it is 
only requisite that h should be properly 

developed ami cultivated" So theft an illiterate man-, 



260 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

whose mind lies uncultivated, and can only say " whereas 
once I was blind, but now I see," cannot be regenerated. 
A vaunt ! with such dark and anti-scriptural rationalism ! 

Mr. Grosh of Utica makes the new birth identical with 
a change of view of the nature of the kingdom of Christ. 
He says, referring to John iii. 1 — 13. " The birth by the 
Spirit, named by Jesus, in contradistinction to being born 
of the earth, earthy, probably refers to the earthly hopes en- 
tertained by the Jews respecting the Messiah— that they 
should not look for an earthly, but a spiritual kingdom." 
Thus whenever the Jews should change their views of the 
kingdom of Christ from a temporal to a spiritual kingdom, 
they should be born again of the Spirit. Another preacher 
who seems still more stupid in this doctrine, not only adds 
his testimony to the correctness of the above views of re- 
generation as applicable to the Jew, but he also affirms, that 
all who are born into the world since the introduction of the 
gospel dispensation, are inevitably and necessarily born 
again. To be brought into existence in the gospel age of 
the world, is all that is requisite to entitle any one to the 
enjoyment and privileges of regeneration. 

Do all the foregoing quotations correspond with what the 
prophets, Christ and the apostles taught and diligently pro- 
claimed to the inhabitants of the earth ? And does such 
teaching accord with the experience of tens of thousands, 
who have testified the grace of God, and many who have 
been the brightest ornaments of the human race ? We have 
reason to believe, that when they are compared, it will be 
found, that there exists between them an irreconcilable 
difference. Ez. xxxvi. 26. "A new heart also will I give 
you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take 
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you 
an heart of flesh." Here is a loss of the old heart, with 
all its corruptions and pollutions, and in its place is given a 



REPEtS i iN< i '. i \i Hi ami RE01 Mi: 1 1 I 261 

heart, with a new disposition! purpose, d 

\ a change of heart >\± taught by the 
prophets. Eph. ii. 10, kk For yc are his workmanship, 
created in Chrisl Jesus unto good works, c^<•. ,, Gal. iv. 
ID. "Until Christ be formed within you." Col. i. 27. 
"Which is Chrisl in you, the hope of glory." Gal. vi. 15. 
4 - For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any 
thing, nor uncircumcision, hut a new creature." Titus iii. 
5. " He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and re- 
newing of the Holy Ghost." John iii. 3. " Ye must be 
born from above." 1 Cor. vi. 11. " And such were some 
of you" — such wicked characters as he had mentioned in 
the preceding verses ; — " but ye are washed, but ye are 
sanctified, hut ye are justified in the name of the Lord Je- 
sus, and by the Spirit of our God." All these Scriptures 
seem to speak of a divine energy in changing the heart, 
and that we are sanctified and justified by the grace and 
merit of Jesus Christ. 

That men may experience and perform many good and 
praiseworthy things, and still be void of regenerating grace, 
is quite among possible things, and sustained by the Bible. 
They may possess vast and critical knowledge, "the higher 
powers maybe properly developed and cultivated" in explor- 
ing the truths of ihe gospel — (1 Cor. xiii. I,) — may exhibit 
general and uniform morality — (Mark x. 17-22,) — they may 
be subjects of serious, poignant and overwhelming convic- 
tions — (Acts xxiv. 25,) — have minds willing, and with plea- 
sure, to listen to and receive the words of truth — (Matthew 
xiii. 20, 21,) — and still be unregenerate. The vital work 
of regeneration does not consist in any externals, which 
men may perform, or of which they may be the subjects, 
nor in the mere internal emotion which they may feel ; for 
it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done" 
but the Lord saves us " by the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." Titu iii. 5. The new-birth is Che work of God — 



202 S FAITH AM) REGENERATION. 

"of hi* own will begat he us with the word of truth" — 
(Janus i. 1 £,) — " which were born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 
i. 13.) It consists in the formation of a holy disposition in 
the soul, in swift succession to deep repentance before God 
and a grasping, a life-giving faith in Christ, ensuring our 
love of his truth, services aud character, and our hope of 
unmingled bliss, joyful praise, and an eternal exemption 
from unholiness. Did it consist in a mere change of opin- * 
ion, of behavior and of emotion, of baptism and profession ; 
then man might be the author of his own regeneration, or 
regenerate his fellow man; and it would not depend on a 
superhuman agency. But since it is requisite to create in 
the soul, that work which shall lie back of the will, to con- 
trol it, and to govern all the affections, desires, hopes and 
conduct of man, nothing short of God through the medium 
of Christ, and by the active operations of the Eternal Spirit 
can effect the work. This w r ork is an instantaneous one — 
many things may precede and succeed the w r ork ; — but the 
work of regeneration is, effected at once, for this reason : 
there is no medium between being godly and ungodly — be- 
ing the children of God and the children of the devil. All 
are absolutely either the one or the other. "There is, 
to our knowledge, and according, to the 'representations of 
the Scriptures, no intermediate .space or condition. They 
who are born from above, or translated from the po"\yers of 
darkness into the glorious kingdom of Christ, meet with a 
transition so sudden as to be performed in an instant. 
Their sins are plotted out, and their names are recorded in 
the Lamb's book of life. We speak not of the steps, opera- 
tions, feelings, sorrows, struggles and prayers which go 
before the new birth, nor of the gradual reception of the 
evidences that we are 'born again— they may be sudden or 
gradual' and extended, according to the faith in exercise or 



I \1 1 II AM) R] [ON. 

the pungency of the inward pangs and struggles — but* we 
speak o( the mere transition of regeneration. Now, we 
are m the struggle and gasping anxiety of the " strail | 
ami anon we emerge into the liberty of the sons of God 
and the joys of a present salvation. The thoughts of the 
mind, and the beams of light from the cross, dart through 
all the soul and light up the heart, with the suddenni 
the lightning's glare and rapidity. 

Thousands and tens of thousand have experienced the 
process of this inward and supernatural change, and feel 
competent to testify of this as a conscious fact. Once the 
subject to them appeared, as it does now to Mr. J. Lewis 
and his Universalist brethren, " as any irrational, unintel- 
ligible, incomprehensible dogma can be;" but now, since 
heaven has implanted within their soul a spiritual discern- 
ment, they can adopt the language of the Psalmist, " Come 
all ye that fear God and we will declare what he has done 
for our souls." They feel in the inward sanctuary of the 
soul, that "blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven 
and to whom the Lord does not impute his sins," and all 
within them vibrates to the praises of God. What they 
have known and felt, that with confidence they now can 
tell. 

2. Some Universalists do not believe that repentance, 
faith and regeneration — or religion itself — are conditions 
of the blessings and mercies of God in this life. To deny 
that these things have any influence on the destiny of man 
in the future world, appears grossly erroneous and irrever- 
ent ; but to declare peremptorily that they are no conditions 
of the forgiveness of sin and for the attainment of the bless- 
ings of the kingdom of grace in this world, manifests 
downright recklessness, and sentiments of rank infidelity. 
Hosea Ballou declares as his opinion, that " No mistake 
can be greater than the supposition that the Divine Being 



Nil:, FAITH AM) REGENERATION. 

is induced to bestow his favors upon its, because he dis- 
Brs in us the religion which he approves." Then it is 
not necessary, according to the teaching of this modern 
Rabbi, that the children of men should possess the faith of 
Christ, — for "without this it is impossible to please God," 
and therefore it is the religicm he approves — in order to se- 
cure the favor of God. Religion and all it includes, is not 
requisite to please God. Again, he says, " It is an egre- 
gious mistake to suppose that Abraham's believing in the 
promise of God is the righteousness of faith by which he 
was constituted the heir of the world." Yet where is the 
common christian who does not know, that the Scriptures 
declare, that Abraham believed God, when he received the 
promise of the covenant and that his faith was reckoned to 
him for righteousness ? Again, he says, " that this faith 
by which we are justified is not our act of believing." 
" They believe that God requires our act of believing as a 
condition of our justification " So teaches Hosea Ballou, 
the founder of modern Universalism as the more excellent 
way. But what says Christ ? " He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned." What says Paul? Christ was set forth as a 
propitiation, " that God might be just, and the jitstifier of 
him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. iii. 26. "There- 
fore being justified by faith we have peace with God." 
v. 1. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus." Gal. iii. 26. All those were born of God 
and became "sons of God" who "believed on his name" 
John i. 12. The Lord put no "difference" between the 
Jew and Gentile, "purifying their heart by faith." Acts 
xv. 9. The Savior taught the people, that they must deny 
themselves, become humble, forsake all, confess him, take 
up the cross and follow him, in order to become his dis- 
ciptas. This was the ground the Savior and his apostles 



FAITH \ v PION. 266 

assumed, and with Paul, we saj , if an; 

from heaven, preach any other gospel, Let him be accursed. 

8. Though the great portion of [Jniversalista profess, that 
repentance, faith and regeneration are necessary to enjoy 
religion and the favor of God in this world, yet they all 

. thai they are not necessary to secure the happ\ 
of the futun state — that immortal life and glory beyond 
death and the grave, are not dependent on faith, the new 
birth and christian character here. This position they as- 
sume, when they reason, and discuss the conditions of sal- 
vation, the death and suffering of Christ, or man as in a 
o( probation. They deny that the present life has 
-'lincction or influence on the future state of existence 
They declare that the atonement of Christ, repentance and 
faith, the word of God, religion and prayer, and the godly 
deportment of man, will no more secure to him the glory 
and happiness of the future state of being, than though they 
had never been; but that their virtue and influence will be 
wholly spent and be confined to this life. Moreover, that 
the wickedness and barbarism of the children of men will 
not affect nor determine the nature of their existence in the 
spirit-world ; that across the stream of death nothing vile, 
polluting and destructive can be borne, every work rebounds 
and every influence recoils at the shores of death. This 
position, so prominent and deemed of such indispensable 
importance to the character and maintenance of Universal- 
ism, should be well and thoroughly comprehended by the 
world. Let us now show that the above is the correct and 
precise ground of Universalism. 

Mr. Jason Lewis declares, that " Universalists believe 
that although salvation in this world is, in some sort con- 
ditional, that is to say, is enjoyed only by means of faith, 
good works, etc. yet that salvation in a state of immortality, 
is by no means suspended upon any exercises or acts of 



REP! FAITH AND RFGENERAI 

the creature while in this state That in this 

Mr. J. Lewis echoes the correct sentiment of Universale 
in his synop- doctrines, is unquestionable, for it is 

fully sustained by many other writers. Then we have the 
doctrine unequivocally expressed, that the salvation in the 
immortal world is in nowise dependent on any thing that 
man can do in this life. If. in their opinion, heaven is 
never realized by man in view of his religion and godly 
deportment, it cannot be deemed strange, that thy should 
rt, that the wicked cannot do any tiling to forfeit future 
glory or incur the pains of hell. 

A. C. Thomas says, while referring to Is. xl. 22. and 
speaking of God's plan of salvation. M Can the faith' of a 
million of grasshoppers add a tithe of a chance to what the 
Lord has secured, or cause one jot or tittle of His plan to 
fail ?" Again ; he says, - the happiness of the future state 
is not dependent on the exercises of faith in any doctrine 
whatever. "Were it * * * there would be no certainty of 
the salvation of any of our race." According to this writer, 
the happiness of the future world is so surely fixed, that 
none of our race can fail of it, whether they believe or dis- 
believe God ; for it is not u contingent of faith." 

Mr. Balfour says : u that faith and obedience are abso- 
lutely necessary to a participation of the privileges and bit 
ings of Christ's kingdom on earth," but not "need 
partaking of the immortal life by Christ Jesus beyond death 
and the grave ;" this is effected by being " raised immortal 
in the resurrection." So teaches Balfour. 

O. A. Skinner says. *• So far as admission into endless 
glory is concerned, the saint and sinner stand on a per- 
fect level.'' There ! who dare dissent from this assertion! 

Mr. Williamson teaches that the sentiment, " that men 
are to be saved in another world, because they are fortu- 
nate enough to believe it so, or lost because they believe it 



Ki pi NTANCE, i ai in wi> Rl ..i.m B I I ION. 

r/y nhsuiul and utterly unphilosophical." 
I be Bible teaches all the world, believe ami be - 
oi die tnl he damned. Do such men not preach 

another gospel than that given by Jesus Chi 

: " The COmmOIl method oi 

\ of being religious, or of having religion in order in 
/>r prepared f<> die and f<> be happy in the future state" 
he thinks is disastrous in us Influence, and one that ought 
io he deprecated. If this is the opinion of Ballon, who 
shall marvel, that the sentiment Is reiterated by the entire 
brotherhood ! Religion is not necessary to enter heave?!, 
should be painted on the doors of their churches and on the 
pulpits; and eVen to urge religion upon our fellow-men in 
order to prepare them to die, should be deprecated. This, 
the world should understand, to. escape the delusion, for it 
spreads the true colors to the breeze, that of downright 
infidelity. 

Mr. Le Fevre remarks: "It has been generally taught, 
thai unless a man is born into Christ's kingdom here on 
earth, he cannot be received into his eternal kingdom here- 
after. It is farther taught that comparatively few in the 
world are so born. We are aware that these are the doc- 
trines of men, but certainly they are not the command- 
ments of God" Mr. Lewis also declares the doctrine 
erroneous, which would make the new birth necessary to 
gain a happy future state and to make men the exclusive 
heirs of salvation. And he then asserts, that " the whole 
of our race, will, at length become characteristically the 
children of God." He means of course that this will be 
effected by the resurrection of the dead. 

Another writer adds his testimony in the following lan- 

: "our final condition is in no way dependent on 

our being bom again here.'" After the testimony of so 

many, that immortal blessedness is not dependent on re- 



268 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

pentance, faith and regeneration, who dare call it in ques- 
tion any longer, or attempt to prove that they are essential ? 
Let all the expounders of the Bible and preachers of the 
gospel stand in awe and be careful riow they urge the duty 
of religion upon man, and raise the tocsin of alarm to a de- 
generate and profligate race. First learn, at the feet of 
such modern Rabbis as Ballou, Lewis, Williamson,, Le 
Fevre, Grosh and Skinner, what the Scriptures mean, be- 
fore they call on men to repent, believe, be converted and 
follow Christ. And learn also whether the conduct of 
men has any moulding influence on their characters beyond 
death and the grave. Ye orthodox upstarts, attend to this 
advice ! 

We shall add the opinion of one more writer to prove 
the position of Universalism in reference to repentance and 
faith as they influence the future destiny of men. S. W. 
Brittan, in a sermon delivered at Bridgeport, Conn, em- 
ploys the following language : " The glory and happiness 
of the future no more depend upon the faith and works of 
the creature than the resurrection itself. The resurrection 
is not to be accomplished through our merits, but through 
the power of God. And if faith and works cannot raise 
the dead, how can these be supposed to determine our con- 
dition in the world to come ?" This writer ought to become 
not only Master of Arts, but also a Doctor of Divinity, for 
he has shown himself worthy, by producing such logical 
reasoning and depths of Biblical lore. Who would assume 
the position, that the religious faith and good works of any 
man would qualify him to raise the dead, and thus wrest 
this omnipotent power from the hand of Christ, though the 
dead have been raised by the agency of man ? Well, if 
they cannot raise the dead, for the same reason, they can- 
not "determine our condition in the world to come." What 
logic ! It is akin to that when we say, that because a man 



REPENTANCE, FAITH IND REGENERATION. 269 

world, therefore he cannot build a h< 
Because he cannot create souls for his fellow-men, there- 
fore he cannot influence them for good or evil — he may 

his own character, but cannot destroy it. It 
not follow, that because faith and good works, and the 
merits of man cannot raise the dead, therefore a chri 
character cannot influence his future state of 
The reasoning would appear more logic . that since 

nothing that man can do, can form his character in this 
world, therefore, not any mode of life or any particular ac- 
tion can c licet his character hereafter. You may say, 
matter of fact disproves your premise; man's life here does 
his character. Very well; were you as well ac- 
quainted with matter of fact in the future world as you arc 
in this, you might as plainly see, that matter of fact dis- 
proves your conclusion. Analogy and Scripture will make 
this equally clear. In its proper place, this will be shown. 
By what means or in what way do Universalists expect 
all the world will be saved ? Since they declare that the 
atonement of Christ, his precious blood, repentance, faith, 
i w birth, religion, the godly life jof man, have not, 
nor can procure, nor in any way affect or determine the 
immortal life and blessedness of heaven. How then will 
they be saved ? In what way will they get to heaven ? 
These are important inquiries, and should be fairly and 
.candidly answered, Instead of standing as the assailed, and 
ling the citadel of truth, let us reconnoitre the ground 
iversalism and test the soundness of its proofs and m- 
• ations. We can devote at present the space oi 

to sift the most prominent passages, on which 
they rely to prove the full, final and necessary salvation of 
the entire human race. 

1. The strongest fortification they have reared around 
this doctrine, which inevitably secures the salvation of all 



270 REPE FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

men, and which they presume is impregnable, is the doc- 
trine of the resurrection of tit [n this they g] i 
and from its high tower they espy the result of a world's 
salvation, without the possibility of a failure in consequence 
of what the world now is, its character, its conduct and 
morals. The resurrection of the dead will- blot out and 
throw the curtain of oblivion over all the deeds of man, 
purify and fit our race for God's eternal presence. This 
position we shall sift in the chapter on the Resurrection of 
the Dead. 

2. They say, that it is the will of God. 

The passage upon which they rely to prove this point, 
may be found recorded in 1 Tim. ii. 3, 4. " For this is 
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior ; who 
will have all men to be saved and to •come unto the knowl- 
edge of the truth." We readily admit that the phrase, %i all 
men," includes the human family, and that it is -just as 
unlimited as Universalism would have it; and that it is 
God's will, in a Scriptural sense, that all men should be 
saved — yet we cannot perceive that it is a necessary con- 
sequence, that all will inevitably be saved. For Univer- 
salists, to prove their conclusion from this passage, must 
either deny that man is a moral agent, or else declare 
that the voluntary agency of every rational and accountable 
creature will always chime in with the will of God — they 
must deny that the salvation of man is conditional, and ad- 
mit that it is unconditional. We think that we have else- 
where triumphantly proven, that the grace and salvation of 
God are proffered to men conditionally, therefore it need 
not be discussed again. That man is a moral agent and 
wields a control over himself according to his own deter- 
mination, is a position quite tenable, and there are but few 
found who record their denial of it. It is the basis of all 
moral government, of the promises and requirements of the 



!\n\n, i \i in \m» R] '.im R I nON* M < 

— it laws the foundation of all accountableness to man 
Mid to God. Nothing but the blind influence of fatalism, 
and unpardonable stupidity v ill reject such an obvious and 

tltial doctrine. 

Gbd will have all men tO be saved. What is meant by 
I ! Docs it mean salvation from sin in this world, 
Or final salvation in the world, to come? The. Universalist 
it means to be saved in heaven, otherwise he would 
not adduce this passage as proof of such an event. But 
what right have they to do so? Can man not be saved 
from sin in this life; and if this is all the passage means, 
then it is no proof of the happiness of the future state. 
Their mode of procedure is, whenever a passage would 
prove any condition or lot of man in the future world, 
which does not accord with their scheme, to deny that it 
:\ such application; and to apply all passages which 
seem to favor their position to the present or future world, 
whether they really have such application or not. Who 
has ever read Walter Balfour and others, and is not con- 
vinced of this ? Let them prove the application of the text 
as used by them, and that it has no reference to this life. 

We think it is evident, that it applies to this life, and 
to the world to come. God desires to see every man, wo- 
man and child saved from sin in this life, and to effect this 
he has made ample provision ; as well as to see them out- 
ride the storms and gain heaven's blissful shores. Though 
facts testify that a great proportion of the human race live 
in sin and riot in foul rebellion against God, spurn and dash 
to the ground the cup of salvation, yet the fault is not in 
the provision nor will of God. So in the future world, 
facts may then exist as incontestable arguments that many 
have made shipwreck of their soul and lost heaven, though 
the ample provisions of grace and the zvill of God would 
have crowned them with perennial glory. 
12 



272 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

God tiritl have all men, $»c. What should we understand 
by the will of God ? Mr. Grosh of Utica says, that it is 
God's determination, and is positive. By this we under- 
stand that God has decreed the salvation of all men uncon- 
ditionally. If so, we should be pleased to see Mr. Grosh 
or his coadjutors prove that God has made any such decrees 
affecting the salvation of mankind. Let them prove and 
not feed the world with dogmatical assertions. Here is a 
task ; up to the work ! 

If the will of God, as used in the text, includes the de- 
cree of God, it must be a conditional one ; for the follow- 
ing reasons. It is inconsistent for God to make any other 
decree, without destroying his own work, or else, first ma- 
terially altering the nature of man in his physical and mor- 
al structure. So long as man continues to be a moral agent, 
his whole moral and responsible character being based on 
this fundamental attribute, so long God cannot and will not, 
issue any absolute decree, involving his moral being and 
overriding the freedom of will. God may issue positive 
decrees, which for their execution depend solely on his own 
agency ; but whenever they involve the agency of man, 
they must necessarily be contingent. This is clear and 
Scriptural. Every absolute decree of God is dependent on 
his sole agency, and will be carried out in effecting the 
thing decreed, and at the time decreed. If the ivill oj 
God, as used in the text, teaches an absolute decree, then 
it must be fulfilled now and not at some future time, for 
it is his will to have all men saved now, therefore, since 
all men are not now saved from sin, nor brought to the en- 
joyment of heaven, thu will of God in the text is not a pos- 
itive decree. But if it only implies a contingent decree, 
depending on the agency of man for fulfillment, then as 
many as shall comply, and so soon as they shall comply 
with God's appointments and conditions of salvation, shall 



mi, FAITH 1ND REGBNERAT1 273 

be saved from Bin in tins life, shall come to the knowledge 
of the truth, and by persevering to the end of life, shall se- 
cure the glorious rest of heaven and undyin lation. 
Then all may be saved, provided they come to God through 
Christ — come to the knowledge of the troth notu, i 

from sin and Condemnation ROI0, and at death saved and 

conveyed to the unfading glories of the upper and better 
world. Hut if man will not eome to the knowledge of the 

truth, he shall remain in ignorance ; if he will not come to 
Christ as the only way of salvation, (Acts iv. 12.) he must 
remain in condemnation, sin and ruin; and if he will not 
walk in the highway of holiness, he shall not have life, nor 
arrive at the Father's house, eternal in the heavens. 

Has man the power and privilege, though at his own 
peril, to rebel against the will of God and tread it beneath 
his feet ? Most assuredly. In this way only can we ac- 
count for all the sin and misery in the world, and vindicate 
the character of God from all reproach. God's law is his 
will, and every sin is a violation of that law ; therefore, if 
man could not spurn, and do contrary to the will of God, 
there could be no sin in the world. Adam could not have 
sinned, and the millions of our race could not have com- 
mitted sin. The Savior could not have said to the wicked 
Jews, " How often ivould I have gathered you together — 
and ye ivould not." " Ye will not come to me, that ye 
might have life." Nor would the Lord of hosts have de- 
clared to rebellious Israel by the mouth of his inspired 
prophet, " I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 
but that the wicked turn and live." 

Then it is very evident, that it is perfectly true and hon- 
orable to the character of God for him to say, " I will have 
all men to be saved," and yet, equally true, that millions 
may fail of glory forever. 

3. "It is God's purpose to 3ave all ??ie»i." 



274 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

Eph. i. 9, 10. u Having made known unto us the mys- 
tery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he 
hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the 
fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things 
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on 
earth, even in him." It will not be necessary to give an 
elaborate discussion of the purposes of God, for this is not 
the object for which these passages are quoted ; but they 
are quoted to prove the following position, as stated by Mr. 
Grosh : " the text must include those out of Christ, as well 
as those in Christ — literally * all things ' — all intelligent 
beings in heaven and in earth." Let it suffice to say, that 
the purpose, or decree of God, as referred to in the text, is 
designed to express, that in the omniscient mind of God 
there was an intention, planned and arranged, perfectly 
agreeable to the deep consciousness of his soul, that at a 
certain time, he would gather together into one family and 
heavenly society, all those who were in Christ, by having 
become new creatures according to the plan of God — all 
these should be gathered under one head at that time, 
whether before that time they were scattered to the four 
winds of the earth, or had died and gone to heaven. God's 
plan and purpose was, as stated in the text, to bring togeth- 
er into one, (or as elsewhere said, into the new heaven and 
earth wherein -dwelleth righteousness,) all things in Christ, 
the things in the heavens and the things in the earth, even 
the things which are in Christ, into whom they were called 
by God, according to his own purpose and grace, and not 
according to any human works, or plan, by the gospel ; and 
after believing this gospel, they were sealed with the holy 
spirit of promise, as belonging unto Christ ; at which time 
they received a pledge of a purchased possession, of being 
gathered to heaven at the end of time. It does not read, 
that God will gather together all things into Christ, wheth- 



1BP1 FAITH AM) Rl riON. 

er in heaven and in the earth! as it should read to make 
out Uniyeraaliem, to include those out of Chri 

•i Christ ; but it reads, that God will gather to- 
ot collect together and compri \e, (for 
- the meaning of the verb, anakephalaioo,) all thing* 
'fist, wlinvvcr the] may be dispersed in this wide 
world. Since those arc brought together who are in Christ 

— ill christians, - tor if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
lire" — it docs not therefore follow of necessity, that 
those out of Christ, or the wicked, shall he gathered into 
Christ also. The Savior tells us how and when the wick- 
ed shall be gathered — they shall be gathered together, 'tis 
true, and also be bound in bundles ; but they shall be cast 
into the fire and burned. (John xv. 6.) This cannot be 
heaven, unless Ballou is correct, when he interprets fire as 
the fire of God's love. 

The interpretation of Mr. Grosh, is far more shrewd, 
than candid or Scriptural, when he says, that all christians 
are already gathered together — that they are all one in 
Christ Jesus, whether bond or free, male or female — that 
therefore they cannot be gathered again, consequently the 
gathering together, spoken of in the text, must mean those 
out of Christ. It is true, that all christians are baptised 
with one spirit, have one God and Father, one mercy-seat, 
one hope of their calling, that Christ is their one name in 
heaven, though the family is now scattered through heaven 
and earth i yet it is also desirable, and that is the blessed 
promise of the text, that their pilgrimage and separation in 
person shall end, and that then they shall be gathered to- 
gether and caught up, and be forever with the Lord. 

Another portion of Scripture : Phil. ii. 9 — 11. " Where- 
fore God hath also highly exalted him, and given him a 
name which is above every name, that at the name of Je- 
sus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things 



REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father." A similar Scripture we read in Isa. xlv. 
23 — 25. " I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out 
of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That 
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, 
shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength : 
even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed 
against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the 
seed of Israel be justified and shall glory." The latter 
Scripture formed a prophecy of Christ ; and Paul records 
it so far as it was fulfilled, and the rest he reiterates, antic- 
ipating the fulfillment. In another epistle Paul declares, 
when it shall be wholly fulfilled, and gives it the inspired 
application. Rom. xiv. 9 — 12. "For to this end Christ 
both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord 
both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy 
brother ? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother ? for 
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. * For 
it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall 
bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So 
then every one of us shall give an account of himself to 
God." The use Universalists make of these Scriptures, 
and others of a similar character, is, that God has proclaim- 
ed upon oath the final salvation of our entire race, there- 
fore it will without fail be accomplished. There are two 
prominent traits in these Scriptures from which they infer 
their conclusion. Because every knee shall bow to Christ, 
and every tongue shall confess him to the glory of God 
the Father. 

These passages have greatly encouraged them to persist 
in their faith, and formed chords upon the harp attuned to 
the song of universal salvation. But does the expression, 
that every knee shall bow to God, imply the salvation of 



i \mi and R] OENl R4 nON. 

iU nich I This point needs proof and requires to be forti- 
fied with clear and Scriptural argumentation. Thai both 
i and Paul spoke of the day and time of the Judg- 
ment, is unquestionable — then all who shall be incensed 

s1 him, and all the seed of Israel, shall come before 

■ -at of Christ to give their account, for all 

shall gift an account of themselves to Pod, and be reward- 
ed accordingly : those who arc enraged againBl God, or 

are his enemies, shall ho ashamed ami disappointed, while 

all who are the seed of Israel, the true Israel of God and 
his children by faith, shall be justified, be proclaimed inno- 
cent and accepted, and then shall they rejoice and praise 
Most High, Yet those who bow the knee, whether 
willingly or by a forced subjection, shall be ready to ac- 
knowledge that in the Lord is righteousness and strength, 
B literal translation of the Hebrew would read, "sure- 
ly, he shall say of me, in Jehovah is all righteousness and 
strength." All will acknowledge, that Christ is a gracious, 
a sufficient and a just Savior, 

I. The Universalist takes for granted the very thing 
which needs proof: that all who bow the knee to God, 
the Judge of the whole earth, are reconciled and made 
christians. While history, facts, if not the very words of 
bowing the knee as most commonly used, would afford 
grounds for an opposite conclusion. The idea of bote- 
the knee to a superior, has closely allied with it 
the forced subjection of an enemy, he bows as a captive 
prostrate and grounds his weapons at the feet of his con- 
queror. This is more probable from the fact that Christ 
is represented as reigning and going forth to subdue his 
foes. It cannot mean a willing submission to Christ from 
the fact, thai the text we have quoted, represents that all 
come to God, and that many who bow the knee, are at 
the same time enraged against God, though forced to ac- 
knowledge, after God justifies his ways and character be- 



278 REPENTANCE, FAITH v\I> REGENERATION* 

fore the universe of intelligences, that he was righteous in 
appointing just such a Savior as Christ. This they will 
confess with shame, confusion and great disappointment. 
Now it cannot be within the limits of bare possibilities, that 
any rational beings, with hearts steeped in anger and mal- 
ice, can bow the knee and soul to God in t that sense, as 
shall make them humble, cross-bearing, and Scripturally 
reconciled to God. Therefore, for aught we know, all who 
shall bow the knee at the time spoken of by Isaiah and 
Paul, shall be subdued as the foes of Christ, and receive 
the reward of wrath and tribulation. It is evident, that all 
who are at that time enraged against God shall be doomed 
captives, and writhe under the ire of the Conqueror. 

We will state a case apposite and clearly illustrative of 
the above Scriptural citations, so far as they have reference 
to bowing before God and confessing Christ the Lord to 
the glory of God the Father. One of the Roman Empe- 
rors, Julian, the Apostate, who was embittered against 
Christianity, and put forth all his energy and influence to 
persecute and exterminate the religion of Christ from the 
earth with flame and sword. In one, and the last bloody 
engagement on the open field of battle, he received his mor- 
tal wound, and while lying on the earth and in his life- 
blood, his thoughts ran over his past life and his present 
designs, and knowing that his hopes and ambition were 
cut off, he felt malice and rage rankling in his heart against 
the living Savior, he seized the earth mingled with his clot- 
ted blood, and hurled it up to heaven and exclaimed, " Je- 
sus of Nazareth thou hast conquered me! " The Empe- 
ror was subdued, he bowed his knee and confessed the 
Lord Jesus Christ, yet he w r as incensed against the Lord. 
Was he a christian ? did he become a christian while thus 
bowing before God a conquered foe and confessing Christ 
the Lord? Nay, verily, none dare avow this before God. 
Well, so it will be in the last great day ; the stoutest, the 



N pj \ i \\( I , i ah ii \m> RKOBNBRA1 ION. 

igefiil, and most embittered enemies of Gods ^vill 
how before the rod of Christ, and aa slain foea confess not 
only that Jesua Christ is just and holy, but also that the 
administrations of the Almighty are full of integrity, and 
are unimpeachable. The infidel Voltaire, and Aitamont 

also bowed before («<«1 and confessed Christ. fie who 

had emblazoned on his black standard the watchword* 

"Crush the Wretch," on his dying bed bowed his hrazen 

heart, and confessed his career was down to hell. And he 
who had murdered Ids precious time and done despite to 

Christ the Savior, bowed his head and acknowledged his 
liahship, and sought and prayed for the deepest caverns 
of hell to hide him from the withering frow r n of his con- 
quering God. Such are some of the fruits of the conquests 
of Christ, of those who bow the knee before him by a 
forced subjection ; and if so, it will not be strange that the 
tribes of the earth shall wail, when they shall see the Lord 
descending from the parting skies with all the myriads of 
the upper world to erect his tribunal, and call up the sleep- 
ing millions to their dread account. Like Belshazzar, their 
knees shall smite together, and faintness shall lay them 
prostrate. And where, O reader, will you then stand ? 
('an your heart and hands endure in the Lord's avenging 
day ! Stop, O stop ! and call for mercy now ! 

2. To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of 
the Father, must imply true religion ; for " no man can say 
that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." That the 
form of expression to signify the idea, " to confess Christ 
to the glory of the Father," is not so very essential, is evi- 
dent from the varying expressions used by Isaiah and Paul. 
They . shall swear," "confess to God," 

" confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father." 
All these mean the same thing. That the captive foes of 
God may make this acknowledgment withoul becoming 
12* 



280 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

christians, is just as clear, as that they can declare, that " in 
God there is all righteousness and strength," and yet re- 
main unblessed, yea, incensed against God. That when 
Paul says that u no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but 
by the Holy Ghost," he cannot possibly mean, that no 
man has the physical ability to say so ; but rather, that no 
one who anathematizes Christ can be a christian, nor will 
any one subject himself to the guidance and control of 
Christ unless he is influenced to do so by the Spirit of God. 
We think that we have sufficiently shown, that the passa- 
ges above quoted, instead of proving the reconciliation of 
the entire rational world to God, prove that many shall 
fall before Christ as conquered foes, and that in their mal- 
ice and rage against God, they shall be ashamed and con- 
founded; while alone the "seed of Israel," the true ser- 
vants and faithful children of light shall be justified and re- 
joice in Christ. 

Acts iii. 21. "Whom the heaven must receive until the 
times of restitution of all things, which God hath spo- 
ken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world 
began." It is a little singular, that at one time Universal- 
ists deny that the Old Testament has any reference to the 
future world, but declare that all its instructions, promises 
and threatenings are confined to this life ; and then at an- 
other time they quote from the same book in order to prove 
their peculiar doctrine. O, consistency, thou art a jewel ! 
The passage above quoted refers to all the prophets, and 
repeats just what they wrote, so that, if their writings have 
no reference to the future world, Universalists cannot pos- 
sibly prove the reconciliation of the whole rational world 
to God by the above passage* 

What restitution did the prophets speak of? Answer 
this and the passage is explained. Let Peter expound his 
own declaration. The times referred to is the gospel dis- 



KKri'M'WVi, PAITH AND REGENERATION. 281 

'ion, from the days of Christ unto the end of the 
world. During this time God should pour out his bles- 
sings, and send times of refreshing, therefore the people 
should receive the instructions of the Lord and repent. 
One peculiar feature in the restitution of all things is what 
was spoken of by Moses, that the Lord should raise up a 
great prophet unto whom the people should listen, and it 
should come to pass, that every soul who would not ohey 
the instructions of that prophet (viz. Christ,) should be de- 
stroyed from among the people. The disobedient be de- 
stroyed in the times of this restitution of all things — the 
teaching of the prophets is rather fatal to Universalism. 
All the prophets, says Peter, from the days of Samuel unto 
the end of the succession, have reiterated the same truths. 
This same apostle declares that the promise is particularly 
to the Jew, he had the privilege to partake of all the bles- 
sings of the covenant made with Abraham, and that Christ, 
the great Prophet, had come first to the Jewish nation, 
preaching repentance, and whoever should obey his instruc- 
tions, should be blessed with a remission of sins and es- 
cape destruction. These were the times of refreshing and 
of restitution spoken of by the holy prophets. If the la- 
bors and times of John, the Baptist, could be spoken of as 
the restitution of all things ; with how much more proprie- 
ty could the labors and times of Christ, of the apostles, and 
of all succeeding ages to the end of the world, be called the 
" times of restitution of all things." It was said of John, 
spoken of in the character of Elias, that " Elias truly shall 
first come, and restore all things" Matth. xvii. II. " Re- 
store," and " restitution" are translations of the same origi- 
nal word. Now, if John the Baptist reconciled all the ra- 
tional world to God, then there was nothing more for Christ 
to do. If this was not done under the ministry of the fore- 
runner of Christ, nor had to be so of necessitv in view of 



RKPfiNI UH i • FAITH AM) REGENERATION. 

what Christ said of him ; then neither will there be an in- 
evitable necessity that our whole rare should be saved in 
new of what all the prophets declared. Do you ask, why 
such terms are there employed in the Scriptures as those 
of the text J We reply, that the provisions of grace and 
the instructions of Christ are adapted to this end, and this 
would have been the effect, if all would avail themselves of 
that grace and comply with his divine teaching. But the 
Jews, many of them at least, would not hear that prophet, 
nor turn from their iniquity, therefore they were destroy- 
ed, and not restored to the favor of God. So it has been 
and so it will be unto the end of time — during the times 
of restitution. Then if the doctrine of universal salvation 
is Scriptural, it must be found in other passages, which 
have not yet been examined. 

4. Universalists say, that it is certain, that all men will 
be saved in view of the promises. We have seen that it is 
not certain from the will, purposes and oath of God, there- 
fore let us now see, whether this result is warranted as in- 
fallibly certain, from the promises which the Lord has re- 
corded on the page of Holy Writ. 

The promise on which the greatest reliance is placed, 
may be found in God's covenant with Abraham. Gen. 
xxviii. 14. "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed/' vide also. Gen. xii. 1 — 3. xviii. 
18. xxii. 18. all these passages record the same promise. 
Now, what do Universalists understand by this promise 
and what blessings does it contain? Let Mr. Grosh of 
Utica answer for the whole fraternity, in his criticism on 
this promise. He says, "The blessing in Christ, means 
then, a salvation from sin, or justification, regeneration, 
and finally, an immortal salvation in the resurrection " 
Should we interpret the passages of the Bible, speaking of 
the wrath and curse of God with such amplification, as this 



ur.n:\ i w i , FAITH \\n REGENERATION. 288 

promised blessing ui interpreted by UniverealUte* it would 

be looked upon, by them, as ;i new thing under ihe sim. 

rue, thai God promised unto Abraham tig, in 

him and in his seed. What u this blessing I The final 
salvation of our race as of infallible certainty ' Thi« needs 
proof — Btrong, unequivocal and Bible proof. 

1. This promise of God, was a covenant promise made 

to Abraham. That this is a covenant, is eoneeded by jail 
parties. Well, what is a covenant ? A covenant, is aeon- 
tract entered into by two or more parties under certain con- 
ditions, limitations and obligations, and whenever the regu- 
lations and reciprocal duties are faithfully carried out, then 
all the benefits held to view in the covenant shall be real- 
ized; but if otherwise, the covenant becomes null and 
void. These are the common-sense features of all secular 
and moral contracts, and they enter into all the contracts of 
God witli man, requiring the moral agency of the latter. 
So that, whatever the blessing promised to Abraham was, 
it was a conditional one, provided it required the agency 
of Abraham. That this was the case, is undeniable, for it 
required him to believe in God, as it also requires faith in 
all the posterity of man, in order to attain the blessing pro- 
mised and become the heirs of God. 

2. This covenant included the possession of temporal 
Canaan, and that his posterity should be very numerous. 
This is plainly specified in the promise. 

3. That from him should spring the Lord Jesus as a 
direct lineal descendant, who should set up the gospel king- 
dom, and open the door of light and truth to a bewildered 
world, and execute a plan by which the children of men 
might be redeemed from the curse of the law and become 
the children of God by faith. The covenant of works was 
set aside, and the covenant of grace and faith was intro- 
duced as its more .glorious substitute. Every where it is 



284 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

spoken of an unalterable condition, that men should believe 
in Christ, and that all those who have faith in Christ, are 
Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise. This 
blessing was made, not as the legal privileges of the Jews, 
which were wholly confined to them and their proselytes, 
but they were to be available to all the kindreds of the earth, 
to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. Though Christ was 
a great blessing, yet there was a blessing included in the pro- 
mise which should come to the Gentiles " through Christ." 
The promise was not only made to Abraham, but also and 
particularly to Christ — the Seed. Gal. iii. 16— -19. 

It is true, that God sent Jesus to Israel first, preaching 
repentance and conversion for the remission of sins, so that 
• they might be blessed in turning every one from his iniqui- 
ty. Acts iii. 26. This was the great object of Christ and of 
the gospel institutions. That many blessings might be 
specified as the result of Christ's entrance into this world, 
is unquestionable ; but the result contemplated by Univer- 
salists and for which they quote the promise, we summarily 
deny. No such promise is made and no such result is 
rendered infallibly certain, as the necessary holiness and 
final salvation of the entire human race. This result can 
alone be obtained by FAITH, repentance and conversion 
to God, if therefore the Universalists were correct in the 
interpretation and application of the promise, they could 
not realize it, seeing they reject the very conditions and 
means for its attainment. If the promise could only be 
enjoyed by faith, and faith is rejected, then the promise 
must fail. This is evident. Thus Universalism destroys 
the very promises on which it builds. 

What is the particular blessing promised in the Abra- 
hamic covenant ? Is there a source of any definite infor- 
mation on the subject? The promise itself would indicate 
a Spiritual blessing, but what one in particular is not sug- 



RSPVNTANCE, PA1TH \M> REGENERATION. $86 

i. If the New Testament doea not declare* then our 

opinion will rest on mere probability. Paul speaks much 
of this covenant and of the faith of Abrahams and it is alto- 
gether likely, that he understood it better than tJniversalists 

do, What docs he say the blessing was I Examine Gal. 
iii. 1 1. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the 
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the 

prouii.se of the Spirit through faith," This learned and 
clear-sighted apOstle declares, that the thing in which all the 
kindred of the earth shall be blessed through Christ, is the 
"promise of the Spirit." Not Universal salvation, but 
the quickening influences of the Spirit. We are satisfied 
from the Scriptures, that this blessing was chiefly eyed in 
the Abrahamic covenant. There is a regular chain of pro- 
mises from Abraham unto the end of apostolic teaching in 
reference to the Spirit of God. Let us take a glance at 
these promises, and see how full and complete they are. 
Is. xxxii. 15. " Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on 
high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful 
field be counted for a forest." xliv. 3. ''For I will pour 
water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry 
ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my 
blessing upon thine offspring." Acts i. 4, 5. " And being 
assembled together with them, commanded them that they 
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise 
of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me : for 
John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." John vii. 
38. " He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, 
out of his belly shall How rivers of living water. (But this 
spake he of the Spirit, &c") xvi. 13. " Howbeit, when 
he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all 
truth, &c." xiv. 16, 17. "And I will pray the Father, and 
he shall send you another comforter, that he may abide 



280 KEl'EMANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

with you forever; even the Spirit of truth, &c." Tim 
who wish to investigate the subject more extensively may 
read the following passages in addition. Is. lix. 21. Jer. 
xxxi. 33-, xxxii. 40. Ezek. xi. 19.,xxxvi. 27. John xvi. 7. 
Eph. i. 13. 

The above quotations seem to constitute a conclusive 
proof, that the prominent blessing of the Abrahamic, or 
gospel covenant was the promise of the Holy Spirit.. 
There is another Scripture peculiarly applicable to this 
point found recorded in John xvi. 8. "And when he is 
come, [the Spirit] he will reprove the world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment." Where is the kindred, 
or nation of the earth, which is not convinced of sin, and 
of a great lack of substantial happiness, and of not being the 
favorites of heaven? What mean all the heathen rites, 
sacrifices and self-tortures ? Are not all these' demonstra- 
tions of the fact, that the world is convicted of sin, of right- 
eousness and of judgment ? And whenever mankind shall 
follow the leadings of that Spirit, and receive him by faith, 
he shall prove to be a sanctifier. Though a man may be 
convicted of sin by the Spirit, yet he cannot become 
cleansed and sanctified unless he receive the promise of the 
Spirit by faith. Paul says, this blessing came upon the 
Jew and the Gentile through Christ by faith. Paul makes 
the inquiry in Gal. iii. 2. "Received ye the Spirit by the 
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" The Sa- 
vior says : " he that believeth on me, as the Scriptures have 
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But 
this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him 
should receive." John vii. 38, 39. 

From all we have said, it is evident, that the gospel pro- 
mise to Abraham and to Christ, instead of teaching and 
insuring the final holiness and salvation of our entire race, 
affords quite a different blessing, the influence of the Holy 



FAITH and RBOBNII \ I I 287 

. and that die prominent object of the influence and 
convictions of the Spirit) is to sanctify bblievbi 
i Aim. \iul since Universalisip rejects faith .-is absolutely 

to attain holiness and heaven, therefore they are 

excluded from the glorious and lasting benefits of the gospel 
covenant, 0, repent ye, and be converted, that ye may en- 
joy the times of refreshing from the Lord I 

5. Universalistfl affirm, "thai the mission of Christ ab- 
solutely insures the salvation of nil men." We have here- 
tofore shown that Universalism does not attribute the holi- 
ness and salvation of saints in heaven to Christ, or to any 
thing he has done ; but that all the benefits of " his mission 
and teaching" are wholly confined to this life. This posi- 
tion we proved by numerous quotations from their own 
writers, therefore when they come before the world and 
proclaim the salvation of all men as a necessary result of 
the mission of Christ, they flatly contradict themselves and 
prove themselves unworthy of confidence. It is no less 
true of them than of any one else, "that a double-minded 
man is unstable in all his ways." 

But what proof do they seem to have, which satisfactor- 
ily shows, that the mission of Christ renders the final ho- 
liness and salvation of all men infallibly certain ? While 
speaking of the mission of Christ and the conditions of the 
gospel, Mr. Grosh feels some embarrassment in view of 
man's ability and the conditions of the gospel, he makes 
the following remarkable declarations : " It is called, ' the 
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation' — because it is 
just as true before the sinner believes, as it is afterwards — 
the only difference being, that the unbeliever has not the 
knowledge of his salvation till he believes the gospel, and 
is, therefore in darkness and condemnation." That is, that 
the unbeliever has just as much, and is just as certain of 
salvation, as the believer ; the only difference, the unbeliever 



288 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

has not the knowledge of the fact. Is this gospel truth ! 
If so, the world should know it. It is to be lamented that 
Mr. Grosh did not live contemporaneously with Christ, for 
he might have greatly aided him by his wisdom, and cor- 
rected the following erroneous declarations : " He that be- 
lieveth shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be 
damned." " He that believeth not on the Son shall not see 
life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Mr. Grosh 
might have told the Savior, " instead of damnation and 
wrath resting on the unbeliever, you must say, ignorance 
shall rest on him." 

Again ; Mr. Grosh says, "The witness in himself, is the 

life which the believer feels — the special salvation ; the 

unbeliever, though he has (according to the record) eternal 
life in Jesus, is destitute of this witness, until he believes." 
Of what profit is faith ? Is it necessary to salvation or jus- 
tification ? Is it necessary to please God ? O, no, says 
Mr. Grosh ; it only serveth to give us a knowledge and a 
witness of the salvation the unbeliever actually has in 
Christ. Then Paul was incorrect, when he said, " we are 
justified by faith"*— -it should have been, by believing God, 
we receive the witness only and not eternal life, for that we 
had before we believed. Reader, will you forsake God and 
the Bible, and follow such fabled theology ? 

1 Tim. iv. 10. " For therefore we both labor and suffer 
reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the 
Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." This 
passage is frequently quoted -by the advocates *of Univer- 
salism in support of their theory of the final holiness and 
happiness of all men ; but a glance at its obvious teaching 
will overthrow their theory and frown away all its claims 
as based upon this passage. Does the Universalist ac- 
knowledge God to be the Savior of all men in that sense 
which shall inevitably secure the salvation of all, then he 



\r\vr. FAITH AND RS0BN1RATI0M 

must be such a Savior now, and must have saved all note 
with a final and everlasting salvation, otherwise the pai 

is inappropriate to prove their theory. The past 

I lod 14 the Savipr oi' all men, and that he is the special 

or of all who believe. If this he the obvious meaning 

of the passage, then it becomes the advocates of this sys- 
tem to prove that all men are now saved in holiness and 
immortal life, or else frankly acknowledge that the passage 

not prove their theory. 

But what does the passage mean? It teaches that Jesus 
Christ has been appointed to be the Savior of all men, and 
that gracious provisions are made for all ; but that those 
and those only receive a special benefit and are saved from 
sin now, who believe in God. Mr. Grosh says, " God is 
the special Savior of them that believe, that he is the Sa- 
vior of all men." Whoever, therefore, does not possess 
this species of faith, cannot enjoy a special Savior. All 
those who are brought to believe the theory of Universal- 
ism are blessed with a special salvation, and those who do 
not believe this are void of this salvation. A bright thought, 
indeed ! But pray, how will Mr. Grosh effect, or see ac- 
complished the final salvation of all men ? Will some be 
brought to heaven by a special salvation, and others by a 
different kind of salvation ? Will not all who are saved, 
be saved by a special salvation ? Error is a strange, per- 
plexing and irreconcilable thing. Better discard it and 
embrace the truth. Then we shall understand what Paul 
teaches in Heb. v. 9. "And being made perfect, he became 
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" 
Though God be the Savior of all men in many respects, 
yet he is the special Savior of those only who believe and 
obey him. 

There are other passages which they quote to prove their 
theory true, such as Is. xxv. 8; lv. 10, 11. Lam. iii. 31. 



290 REPENTANCE, FAITH AND REGENERATION. 

Rev. xxi. 4 ; but a diligent reading of their context will af- 
ford a correct exposition and show that they cannot be used 
rightly to prove Universalism scriptural. There is one 
passage upon which great reliance is reposed, recorded in 
1 Cor. xv. 22. This passage we shall investigate, together 
with its context, in the chapter on the Resurrection of the 
Dead. 

The examination of truth and the sifting of the theory of 
Universalism which has been presented in the foregoing 
pages, is worthy of deep reflection and a corresponding 
course of life, for the theological points mentioned strike 
their roots deep into the very soil of grace and vital religion. 
We have shown what Universalism is, and what it teaches, 
and we shall leave the decision to the candid reader, 
whether the Scriptures have been, thus far, vindicated from 
the charge of teaching such a system, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE GODHEAD AND THE srPKEME DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 

M He that drspisctJi me, fyspistth him that sent mc." 
T.uke x. 10. 

This was the language of Jesus Christ, and by it he 
taught the world, that a rejection of himself by the children 
of men would be a virtual rejection of the Father. He 
wished to be looked upon as possessing the nature, powers 
and honor of the Godhead in common with the Father. 
Upon another occasion he said, " That all men should 
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that 
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath 
sent him." John v. 23. 

Long has the doctrine had currency in the christian 
churches, that while there was but one true and living God, 
nevertheless the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are separate- 
ly and essentially God. That in divine essence they are 
one, but in distinct subsistence, they are three. That 
neither has any supremacy, or intrinsic superiority over 
the other, but that they are perfectly equal in all their na- 
tural and moral perfections. The people of God have en- 
tertained and highly appreciated this view of the divine 
nature and character of God; but from it the body of Uni- 
versalists have greatly diverged. They have erased from 
their catalogue of doctrine, the doctrine called the Trinity 
and the Divinity of Christ. It will be necessary here to 
examine into, and give a concise view of the sentiments 
held by Unr'er3ali2t3 relative to this subject. 



292 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

That this is a doctrine of vast and eternal importance, 
may be inferred from the fact, that the opinion we entertain 
of the character of God, will transfer to the religion we 
profess, either genuineness or unsoundness, as the nature 
of our views may be. For God is the foundation of all 
true religion. If we misconceive the character and perfec- 
tions of God, our religion is based upon our opinions, and 
not upon God. If therefore, Universalists cherish wrong • 
and corrupt views of Jehovah, then their religion is equally 
corrupt — Pagans are changed by their religious views, to 
the character they attribute to their gods. If they conceive 
the character of their gods to be warlike, licentious, or malev- 
olent, so their worship of these gods will mould their own 
character to the same standard. So it is with the Mohamme- 
dans, and with every body of religious worshipers. If 
Universalists entertain false notions and have wrong con- 
ceptions of the true God, their religion will be in the same 
proportion false and baseless. If Christ is a mere man, 
their worship of him will not be the worship of God, and 
their religion will, therefore, be worthless ; " for he that 
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath 
sent him." 

It will not be necessary to make many quotations from 
their writings, to prove that Universalists deny the doctrine, 
that in God there is a distinction of three, the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit (or the doctrine of the Trinity) equal in 
power and in all their attributes, for their denial is as ob- 
vious as the sun. They insist in their writings, that there 
is only one living God, as Unitarians do, and at times 
openly discard the tri-unity of God. Mr. Grosh of Utica, 
calls it, a "heathen tradition." Mr. D. Skinner declares, 
<k that it was a doctrine unheard of during the three first 
centuries of the christian era," " not sanctioned by the gos- 
pel," " and must go down to 'the tombs of the Capul 



STTKT.MJ; [)[VIMT\ Of < HKi 208 

S. Iv. Smith declares, that it is u revolting to reason, re- 
pugnant to all our ideas of number ami consisted 

They also deny the Supreme Divinity of Christ, s 
e have become informed of their views on this subject, 
the teachers of this system of doctrine arc agreed to reject 
this doctrine. Indeed, one writer declares, that it M was 
diicarded by the tjohqlt denomination, with but few ex- 
ceptions." 

Mr. Grosh declares: "Wo believe that the nature 
of Jesus was strictly the human nature only, while on 
earth, — that he had no existence before his earthly ex- 
istence, except in the purpose and counsel of God, — that 
lie was the chief (or beginning) of the creation of God only 
by the powers and office with which he was gifted, and by 
his resurrection." This teacher of influence in his de- 
nomination, declares Christ in nature a mere man, denies 
his pre-cxistence, and his greatness and exaltation above 
other men to consist wholly in his office, conferred by God 
and obtained by his resurrection. 

Hosea Ballou says, " it is plain that the nature of the 
relation of Jesus to the Father is the nature of the re- 
lation of every man to the Father of our spirits." 

Mr. Williamson says, " that Jesus of Nazareth was a 
created and dependent being, deriving all his wonderful 
powers from God." "If you ask me, if he was no more 
than a man, my answer is in the language of Scripture, 
* He was made, in all things, like unto his brethren,' but 
was ' anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows,' 
and endued with power greater than any other man." 
They seem to agree that he was but a mere man in his 
nature, and that the only sense in which he was greater 
than man, was in consequence of his mission and office, the 
anointing and honor conferred by God. One writer says, 
in reply to the declaration, that their views of Christ 



204 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

denomination, degrade Christ : " We think truly, that 
the supposition that Jesus was God, degrades his charac- 
ter ; while the opposite supposition reflects upon him the 
brightest glory." 

Mr. Jason Lewis says, " Universalists believe not only 
that ' there is one God,' and in the language of Scripture, 
4 but one God the Father,' but they also believe that there 
is * one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ 
Jesus,' respecting whom they believe all that the Scriptures 
teach ; as for example, that he was * a man approved of 
God,' &c." It would have been well for this wise theolo- 
gian to have quoted such passages : " In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God" When the orthodox wish to prove that Christ 
was also man, they quote the same passages that Univer- 
salists do to prove that he was a man ; but there is a class 
of passages which prove him to be God, therefore we be- 
lieve not only that he was perfect man, but also perfect 
God. 

We shall now proceed to state and defend the doctrine 
of the Trinity, and the Divinity of Christ, and thus show 
and prove, that Universalism is an error, grossly perverting 
these doctrines. 

Some men have cherished strong objections against the 
use of the word Trinity, as applicable and properly de- 
scriptive of God. Though the term is not found in the 
Bible, and the view of God as described by the word Trinity 
may have been explained in such a manner as to misrepre- 
sent God and make a false impression ; yet, in order to 
prevent circumlocution and to understand it in the sense it 
is employed by intelligent theologians, there is no one word 
better adapted in the English language to express the doc- 
trine of God as taught in the Holy Scriptures. In perusing 
the Bible, we find that many passages describe God as one 



SUPREME DIVINITY OF r HRI«T. 2$J 

true and living God ; and in this 

id the same at- 
I i>\ but as it re- 

1 1 k! is thn . Th< ' 

1 ad as 

God is n rad three in the 

i geo- 

I other 

f, it has thi sides. The absurdity which some 

?ex in this doctrine, is not in the doctrine itself, but in 

their own position and reasoning. They are guilty of as- 

sumin position, and consequently their conclusions 

are false. The position is, that God is one and three in the 

which is in bold contradiction of other things 

— >ne cannot be three, and three one. This is 

all unquestionably true, for it is not possible for God to be 

one and three in the same respects ; yet for aught we know 

to the contrary, and reason dare not call it absurd, that in 

one respect God is one, and in another respect, God is 

three — in essence one, and as agents or persons, he is three. 

Should we declare that man is mortal and immortal in one 

respect, we should contradict matter of fact, and therefore 

be guilty of an absurdity, for in one respect he is mortal, but 

in anii her respect he is immortal. When we say that 

man is mortal, we mean, as it respects his body, he is so ; 

and when we say. that he is immortal, we refer to his soul. 

All this is reasonable and not absurd. For us to explain 

this is so, would be as perplexing as it is to explain 

node of God's existence. Neither is it contradictory 

to reason, or absurd, to declare that there is one true and 

; God, (meaning in essence,) and that in this one God 

letion of three, (meaning persons or agents,) 

and Holy Ghost. 

The objector may say, after all, this is mysterious and 

19 



296 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

beyond comprehension. As to matter of fact it is not, for 
that God does exist, and that he does exist in this manner 
may be proven by evidences ; if so, this is conclusive. But 
as to the mode of God's existence and how he exists thus, 
may be very mysterious and incomprehensible, yet after 
all it may not be absurd. If so, then all things we cannot 
explain in the mode and relations of their existence, must 
necessarily be unreasonable. This is rather too sweeping 
and leveling. 

The Lord has founded the fact and mode of his exist- 
ence upon unquestionable authority, and conclusive evi- 
dences. That God does exist is assumed and not proven 
by argument and reason in the Scripture, for none but the 
fool will deny the existence of God, and upon such all rea- 
soning is lost. The Scriptures having assumed the fact of 
God's existence, then go forward to afford satisfactory evi- 
dences of his existence, without explaining and denning 
how he exists. To prove that the Father, and Son, and 
Holy Ghost are separately and individually God, the ne- 
cessary evidences are produced, in ascribing the Name, the 
Attributes and Worship to each one equally. Mere evi- 
dences are designed to prove that the thing is so, without 
entering into an explanation why and how it is so. It was 
either not necessary, or not possible for man to compre- 
hend how God does exist, and how it is that in the one 
God in essence, there are three in nature and being, the 
same and essentially God ; for if it had been necessary to 
the welfare of man, we may presume that the revelation 
would have been made. But so far as it w r as necessary to 
the welfare of man and to an elevated worship of God, the 
character of God has been set forth by divine authority and 
irrefutable evidences. 

That we are unable to explain how these things are so, 
affords no justifiable reason for rejecting the doctrine of the 



BUFftXVE invi\ii\ OF rm;; 297 

tri-unitv of God. There are many things wo are compelled 

to believe upon evidence without a clear knowledge of the 

and relations of their existence. To act consistently, 

wr mib! reject them all. If we cannoi comprehend and 

explain the mode of existence and all the relations of natu- 
ral things, how much le88 can we define die very nature 

and mode of existence of the infinite God. The law of 

gravitation, we know exists as a reality, lor we see its 
powerful operations daily on the earth, and in the mighty 

orbs of light which revolve in majestic splendor in the 
azure skies; but how to define it, explain its very being, 
mode of existence and all its relations, defies the intelli- 
gence and grasp of our finite mind. Newton the philos- 
opher, discovered the law of gravitation as pervading the 
material world; but to define its substance and principle 
he was wholly incompetent. AYho is sceptical here? The 
same reason exists for being unbelieving in reference to 
gravitation, as in reference to the doctrine of the tri-unitv of 
God — yea, more so, when we take into consideration the 
authority and evidences in the case. Magnetic attraction, 
w r hich whirls the needle of the compass and holds it direct 
to the north-pole, is attested to, as an existing reality, defying 
successful contradiction ; but who after all can explain and 
define that subtile fluid in its uniform operations and in all 
its relations ? Though this mysterious reality is of great 
service by land and by sea, indisputable in its existence ; 
yet our belief of it rests wholly on its fact and evidences, 
and not on a definite conception of the mode and relations 
of its existence. How much mysteriousness is there about 
electricity, the growth of every plant, shrub, and flower, the 
union of soul and body in man ; must we, therefore, neces- 
sarily reject all these things, because in their mode of ex- 
istence and relations they are deep and inscrutable. The 
same objections exist as against the being of God in a trill* 



298 THR GODHEAD AND THE 

ity of equal and distinct agents ? Nothing but contemptible 
and groveling stupidity would dare make the suggestion. 

After making the above statements in order to divest the 
mind of the reader of prejudice and false positions; and to 
induce him to take the attitude of a pupil of God's word 
instead of a judge ; we shall show, 

1. That the Scriptures teach as a fact, that there is but 
one true and living God. 

" Hear, O, Israel : The Lord our God is one Lord." 
Deut. vi. 4. "J am the Lord and there is none else, there 
is no God besides me." Is. xlv. 5. " And this is eternal 
life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3. Though 
the Scriptures do not attempt to explain the manner of the 
divine existence, yet they are very decisive in announcing 
its reality. 

2. In the Supreme Divinity, or Divine Essence there is 
a distinction of three, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who 
possess the same nature, and the infinite perfections of God 
— of each of these the Scriptures authorize the use of the 
personal pronouns, I, thou, he; and the name, attributes, and 
worship of the Supreme Deity. These are revealed as 

facts, and no attempt is made to show the manner of God's 
existence, or how such an existence is consistent with rea- 
son. We acknowledge it an ineffable mystery, yet we 
deny and challenge the proof that it is contrary to reason. 
We believe it above reason. To prove that the Scriptures 
teach such a distinction in God, we need quote but few 
passages. Matth. xxviii. 19. "Go ye therefore and teach 
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" To make a profes- 
sion of God in Christian baptism, we are to recognize the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost as equal and possessing the 
same nature, attributes and essence. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. " The 



si PREMS DI1 IM!\ Off < m:i 299 

of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, tnd 
ftmmunion of the Holy Ghost be with you all." This 
benediction of Paul reco distinction of three in the 

divine nature. Since the Lord declares th< se things to be 
so, we should bow with submission to the divine authority 
and, believe what God hath said without gain-say ing« His 
word is Bufflcienl evidence to sustain and prove the doe- 
trine, although we cannot define the manner of such an 

nee. 

3. The Supreme Divinity of Christ. 

Those who agree to reject the Supreme Divinity of Christ, 
but illy agree among themselves, what the nature and true 
character of Christ actually is. Some consider him a di- 
vine being in the sense that he is superior to the angels, 
nevertheless that he is a created being. Others profess to 
believe that he is a mere man, possessed of body and soul 
as a man, and that the only sense in which he is superior 
to man, is because of the gifts of God, his office and resur- 
rection from the dead. Others believe that Christ was not in 
the possession of humanity. There is some difference, as to 
what Christ actually is, his pre-existence, &c. among Uni- 
tarians, Socinians, Universalists, and Christians ; but they 
all agree in disavowing the proper divinity of Christ as 
God. To prove that they are in error, great and dangerous, 
in denying the Godhead of Christ, for thereby they are led 
to deny the vicarious sufferings of Christ and his atone- 
ment for man, we shall now endeavor to show: 

That Christ is God, is evident from the fact, 

1. That he is equal with God, the Father. 

The Apostle Paul seems to be clear and decisive on this 
subject in Phil. ii. 6. "Who, being in the form of God, 
thought it not robbery to he equal with God, cVe.*' This 
passage seems decisive. Two points, however, are neces- 
sary to be undc3rstood. What we are to understand by 



300 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

"being in the form of God;" and what by being *« equal 
with God.' 1 The criticisms which have encumbered this 
text, have been put forth by such men as were desirous to 
do away the relevancy of the passage to prove the Divinity 
of Christ 

44 Being in the form of God." By this expression, we 
presume, the Apostle intended to convey the idea, that 
Jesus Christ was verily and essentially God, for the follow- 
ing reasons : 1. It declares his pre-existence ; that he was 
in the form of God before he took upon himself the form 
of a servant, before he made himself of no reputation, and 
was made in the likeness of men. Whatever that was 
which he laid aside, one thing is certain, that he had an 
existence prior to his becoming a man, therefore he could 
not have been a mere man, but above a man. 2. It means 
that the form of God, in which he was before he was made 
in the likeness of men, did not consist in the glory of his 
external appearance, the goodness and benignity of his life 
and works, nor in the power of w r orking miracles, for the 
obvious reason, that, instead of laying these aside, he re- 
tained them and manifested them throughout his earthly 
existence. 3. It must therefore imply that the certain 
mode in which God manifested himself, whatever it be, was 
laid aside previous to his entrance upon earth, and thence- 
forward he no more displayed the peculiar manifestation of 
God, but showed himself as a man. He did not lay aside 
his Divinity, but the glorious manifestation of the Godhead ; 
for the Savior and Paul more than intimate this. Col. ii. 
9. " For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodi- 
ly." This, of course, means, that in him all the divine 
attributes of God centred, therefore these he did not. lay 
aside. But Christ says, in John xvii. 5. "And now, 
Father glorify thou me, with the glory which I had with 
thee before the world was." Therefore, there was a glori- 



Pft£ME mviMi \ OJ ( IIRIS1 . 301 

mis m ■ wlm-li chnst had before the world 

but which he laid aside when he was made in the 

likeness of men, and which he resumed after hii aseension 

iiy« Indeed, if tO be in the form of 8 servant is to he 
in the likeness of men, then to be in the form of Clod must 

make him God. 'This is evident from Paul's subsequent 
remark, that he was M equal with God," because he * 

the form of (red. 

•• K.|ual with God." This phrase does not mean, that 
lie was like God in any moral quality of his character ; 
but that lie was the equal of God in nature, attributes and 
rank. One thing may be like another in some respects, 
and yet not be the equal. To express a mere similarity, 
the Greeks used the term omoios, and when they ex- 
pressed equality, they used the term isos, which is the 
singular nominative of the word of the text. Whenever 
any godlike majesty w r as ascribed to man, the phrase used 
was omoios theo, but the phrase isa theo, was never ap- 
plied to man but always expressive of a being who was 
actually God. Therefore it was, when the Savior used ex- 
pressions of himself to denote his true character, and which 
the Jews esteemed as exalting himself to an equality with 
God, and consequently guilty of blasphemy, that they said, 
" he made himself equal (ison to theo,) with God." John v. 
18. This shows that Paul used literal language, and meant 
to express what the people would naturally understand, 
that Christ was truly and essentially God. Christ and the 
Father were one — one in essence and harmonious in all 
their works. 

2. The Scriptures apply the name of God to Christ. 
We are well aware, that the name of God is a few times 
given to created beings in order to express some high rank 
or dignity among (hen, but then it is used figuratively and 
not literally. It only expresses a quality, but when applied 



3()'J THE GODHEAD AND THE 

to Christ it is used literally. It expresses all that it does 
when it is applied to the Father; this it must, unless it is 
used figuratively. If it is used figurativel) when applied to 
Christ, the opponent of the Divinity of Christ is under the 
necessity to prove it and not we. We say, that it is applied 
literally and deserihes him as God. We read in Rom. ix. 
5. " Whose are the Fathers, and of whom, as concerning 
the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for- 
ever." The fathers and patriarchs were claimed by the 
Jewish people as their honorable progenitors, and as con- 
ferring upon them peculiar favors and distinguished merit. 
But Christ, as concerning the flesh, so far as he was a man 
was a lineal descendant of the fathers ; while in another 
respect, he was God over all. If Christ was nothing more 
than man, it would seem surperfluous to speak in reference 
to him, as concerning the flesh, as a man, that he was a 
descendant of the fathers. As a man, he was not " over all, 
God blessed forever." In this passage the appellation of 
God is given to Christ, not in his human nature, but in 
his divine. In his human nature, he was the Son of Mary 
but in his divine, he was God, or the Son of God. The 
various criticisms which have been brought forward to dis- 
prove the relevancy of this passage to fortify the Divinity 
of Christ, have been as ineffectual and abortive as the 
dashing waves to sweep away the everlasting rocks of 
Gibraltar. 

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord, 
and my God." John xx. 28. This was not a mere ex- 
clamation of surprise, for the Jews did not make use of the 
name of God with such irreverence. Though many of the 
Jews were wicked, yet the name of God was pronounced 
with the greatest solemnity and reverence. This we may 
presume was the case with Thomas. Indeed, his language 
was thp deliberate and logical conclusion of reason. He 



: Rl Ml DI VI HITI "I lOi 

the evidences off Christ's omniscience, manifested to 
overthrow his unbelief, and from fchose evidences he drew 
the conclusion that Christ was Ins Gfod« 

M And we know that the Son of (Joil i> come and hath 
n understanding", that we may know him that is 
true : and W6 are in him that is true, even in hi.- Son J 

Bt This is the trne God and eternal life/ 1 1 John 
r. 20. This p b always appeared so decisive to 

prove the Supreme Divinity of Christ, that, in our opinion, 

• <ls no comment. The Son of God has come, and all 
christians are in him by a living faith, as the branch is in 
the vine. He is the true God and author of eternal life. 

&, The very passages which were applied to Jehovah in 
the Old Testament are applied to Jesus Christ in the New 
Testament. Compare the following passages. Deut. x. 17. 
u For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, 
.-i great (rod, a mighty and a terrible, &c." Rev-, xvii. 14. 
u These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb 
shall overcome them : for he is Lord of lords, and King of 
kings, &c." Ps. xxiv. 10. "Who is this King of glory? 
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." 1 Cor. ii. 8. 
"For had they known it, they would not have crucified the 
Lord of Glory," Hosea i. 7. " But 1 will have mercy 
upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord 
their God, &c." Luke ii. 11. "For unto you is born this 
day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the 
Lord." Dan. v. 23. "But hast lifted up thyself against 
the Lord of heaven, &c.!' 1 Cor. xv. 47. " The second 
man is the Lord from hravai." Paul says in Rom. xiv. 
10, 11. "For we all shall stand before the judgment seat 
of Christ. For it is written. As I live, saith the Lord, cverv 
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to 
G'od." This was written in Is. xlv. 21, 2 1. therefore Jesus 
Christ is the Lord, the Judge, spoken of in the Old and 
•IS 



304 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

New Testaments. This proves him God. In Isaiah xl. 3. 
John the Baptist was spoken of as lt preparing the way of 
the Lord, making Straight in the desert a highway for our 
God ;" and in the New Testament this same person is 
styled the forerunner of Christ, preparing his way. Matth. 
iii. 1 — 3. Compare also: Is. viii. 13, 14. and 1 Peter ii. 8. 
All these passages, and many more, cannot be rationally ex- 
plained, unless we first allow the Supreme Divinity of 
Christ. Admit this doctrine and there is a striking har- 
mony between the Old and New Testaments in reference 
to Christ. 

4. Divine attributes are ascribed to Christ. As God is 
without divisibility, if therefore we can prove that Christ is 
only in the possession of a single attribute, it must neces- 
sarily follow, that he is in the possession of all. Every 
attribute of God is infinite, and whoever possesses one in- 
finite attribute is infinite in that respect. It is an unavail- 
ing alternative to say, that Christ possessed infinite attributes 
by delegation ; for if the Father delegated to Christ his in- 
finite attributes, he himself must necessarily have ceased to 
be God, and Christ must have begun to be God at the 
moment the delegation was made ; all which is consummate- 
ly absurd, and in stern conflict with the essential character 
of God as indivisible, unchangeable and alone pre-eminent- 
ly immortal. 

1. Eternity is ascribed to Christ. 

If Christ be nothing more than a mere man, or if he be 
not God, it is wholly improper to declare him eternal in 
existence, for nothing except God, can be looked upon as 
eternal. If the attribute of eternity be predicated of Christ, 
then he must necessarily be the supreme God. We read, 
" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
God, and the Word was God." John i. 1. That the term 
Word refers to Christ is an irrefutable point. The Evan- 



■I MtBMl i » i \ im i \ Of CttBll i 305 

geliet proves this in the tame chapter — ho mils him the 

Light, the object of faith, the only begotten of the 

Pathe^ the one who became incarnate and dwelt among 

Dion, This same personage, when created things bl 

he, in the vrrj/ beginning, he was there, existing with God 

and actually was God. Since Christ existed before all 

created beings, he was before time began to be, and dwelt 
m eternity, therefore he is an eternal Being. 

M And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own- 
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world 
John xvii. 5. It is not requisite to point out what 
that particular glory was, which Christ had once enjoyed 
and which he prayed for again; but the only essential 
point, to our present purpose is, to show that Christ existed 
prior to the existence of the material world. This the text 
unequivocally asserts, therefore Christ was eternal. 

11 Before Abraham was, I am." John viii. 58. This text 
proves the pre-existence of Christ, and as the phrase, I am, 
is employed to describe the immutability of the nature of 
God and as the same term is applied to Christ, it must also 
prove him immortal in his nature, and therefore God. No 
being, except God himself, can be actually eternal and im- 
mutable, and as the Scriptures apply these attributes to 
Christ, it therefore follows as a matter of necessity, that 
either the Bible bears false testimony, or else, that Christ 
is truly God. The former we cannot allow, therefore we 
embrace the latter upon the decisive testimony of God. 

2. Omnipotence. The omnipotence of God is that in- 
herent and incommunicable power, by which he does all 
things consistent with his law and character — he performs 
all possible things which he determines in his own mind 
to do. The Lord might have done many things, or might 
still do much, which he never has done, or will hereafter 
do; for his omnipotence does not compel him. to, do all 



306 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

things — its exercise is still voluntary. That Jesus Christ 
is in the possession of the omnipotent power of God, is a 
doctrine fully sanctioned by the Scriptures. Paul teaches 
in Phil. iii. 21. " Who shall change our vile body, that it 
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to 
the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things 
unto himself" It would seem that the above passage in- 
timated that Christ was the possessor of infinite power. 
If so, he is declared to be God, for none but God can pos- 
sess this attribute. 

46 All things were made by him; and without him was 
not any thing made that was made." John i. 3. Here 
we are taught that Christ was the Creator of all things, and 
as it did require omnipotent power to bring into existence 
and mould the works of universal nature, and as God, the 
Supreme Divinity is called the Creator ; therefore Christ 
must have had a pre-existence and be truly God. In verse 
10. it is said, that "the world was made by him*" 

Again, we read in Col. i. 16. 17. "For by him were all 
things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, 
or principalities, or powers ; all things were created by 
him and for him ; and he is before all things and by him 
all things consist." This Scripture proves that Christ was 
the Creator of all things, not only material and visible ; but 
also of things spiritual and invisible : and he was in point 
of existence, before and pre-eminent to, all these things, and 
that upon him depend all things for existence and continu- 
ation. Such a Being must necessarily be God. 

In the preceding verse, some theological writers have 
presumed to find a doctrine derogatory to the Supreme 
Divinity of Christ, because there it is asserted that he was 
" the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every 
creature." When we take the word, "first-born," in its 



I 1'KI ML I>l\ INI I \ o| ( III; MK 

and literal meaning, we Bhall find it difficult to admit 

Christ was truly the t • t < « i- 1 1 : 1 1 God; hut we shall find 

i greater difficulty to reconcile such a oNltimenl of Cnrisl 
with tht» two succeeding passages', where his power, wis- 
dom and pre-existenre are taught. The Greek word pro- 
tokos ("first-bora") has other meanings and is used • 
press a different idea than merely tnr fiifftf-born. Even the 
term first-horn does not only signify the one horn first, the 
eldest born in the family ; but also pre-eminence, the first, 
the chief. So the, Greek word, by implication, means the 
first, the chief or principal, as descriptive of the rank that 
is pre-eminent. While Christ is the image, a delineation 
and exact representation of the perfections and fullness of 
God, and the first-born of every creature, holding the chief 
and pre-eminent rank in the universe, and heir of all things ; 
he has revealed his Deity in his creative power, in his pre- 
existence and as the upholder of the universe. Such a 
Use of the word first-born is not unauthorized, for the Sa- 
vior is described as the "first-born among many brethren " 
— the chief and highest in rank. He is called the " first- 
begotten of the dead;" he was, however, not the first one 
who rose from the dead ; but he was the chief and pre- 
eminent in rank. Christ was not the being who was first 
created, for then he could not have created all things ; but 
he is chief and pre-eminent in rank, far above princi- 
palities and powers, the first in the universe. If the above 
portion of Scripture does not decisively prove that Christ 
is God, what kind and form of language should the Bible 
employ in order to describe the Supreme God ? If Christ 
is omnipotent, he must be God. This is proved by evi- 
dence and not by an explanation of the mysterious union 
of the Godhead. 

3. Christ is omniscient, therefore God. " All things are 
delivered unto me of mv Father : and no man knoweth the 



308 THE (JODHKAD AND THE 

Son but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, 
save the Soil, and he to whomsoever the Son will 
him." Matth. xi. 27. Tli that Christ has the 

same knowledge of the Father, that the Father has of the 
Son, therefore if it requires infinite wisdom and knowledge 
to comprehend the character of the Father, then Christ 
was in the possession of such knowledge, and must neces- 
sarily be God. 

4k But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because 
he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify 
of man : for he knew what was in man." John ii. 21. 25. 
Again, 1 Cor. iv. 5. " Therefore judge nothing before the 
time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the 
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the coun- 
sels of the heart." Who besides God can answer the doc- 
trine of the above passages ! Is Christ mere man notwith- 
standing the Scriptures speak thus of him ? Let candor 
and reason reply. 

We need not carry the argument any further and prove 
each separate attribute of God as belonging to Christ, for 
if we could prove that he possesses only one attribute, the 
argument would be sound, provided we first showed that 
God is indivisible in essence and character. The apostle 
Paul asserts in Col. ii. 9. " For in him dwelleth all the full- 
ness of the Godhead bodily." By this, we understand, that in 
Christ centres and resides the sum total of the attributes of 
God. Is this decisive testimony to prove that Christ is 
God ? If not, what divine testimony do we require to con- 
vince the judgment ? 

5. Divine worship is ascribed to Christ. 

The worship ascribed to Christ is not of an inferior 
character, but it is the same as that rendered unto the Fa- 
ther. This is evident from the following passage : " That 
all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Fa- 



DIVINIT1 NT. Mf 

ther. lit' that honoreth not tin* Son, honoreth not th 

which hath sent him." John v. 2 muld pay 

> the F • ; and 

so requisite is this, that who holds from Christ 

supreme worship, is guilty of withholding du< 
from the Father ; therefore his religion must be v;un and 
The apostle declares the sentiment, that it : 

only proper and necessary for men to pay religious worship 

to Christ, hut that all the angelic host should worship him. 
-And let all the angels of God worship him." Ileh. i. 6. 

l, M That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under 

Birth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. ii. 
10, 11. -And I beheld and I heard the voice of many 

B round about the throne, and the beasts, and the el- 
ders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten 
thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud 
voice, Worthy is the lamb that w r as slain, to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and 
on the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in 
them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
the lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. 
And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped 
him that liveth forever and ever." Rev. v. 11 — 14. The 
above passages inculcate the principle, at least, that the 
whole animate creation shall acknowledge the supremacy 
of Christ, and extol him as high as the eternal God, 
which, if Christ be not very God, would be at violence 
with the character of God and the great principles of his 
moral government. We cannot conceive how, within the 
bounds of just interpretation, the passages of the Bible 



310 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

which ascribe worship to Christ, can be applied to any- 
thing else than to sustain and defend the doctrine, that 
Christ is God. Upon the ground of testimony, excluding 
all metaphysical and abstruse speculations, this doctrine is 
amply proven. And every judgment qualified to weigh 
evidences, and feeling disposed to admit a position thus sus- 
tained, will feel very little hesitation in embracing the doc- 
trine and in worshiping the Savior as God. 

There is a strong reason in the philosophy of the institu- 
tion of religion, through Christ the Mediator, that would 
demand that Christ should be the God of heaven and earth. 
The institution and requirements of religion can be harmo- 
nized on no other ground than upon the admission that 
Christ is God. It is an obvious truth in the philosophy of 
things, that the person who makes great self-denials, and 
labors with unwearied diligence to procure good, and a de- 
liverance for those who are in suffering and desperate ex- 
tremities, that he will gain the ardent affections of the saved. 
Thus the Almighty secured to himself the affections and 
supreme devotion of the people of Israel. He delivered 
them from bondage and the grasp of death, and in return, 
they sang the high praises of God, and extolled his name 
abroad. Thus Jesus Christ, by his advent, voluntary hu- 
mility, suffering and death, drew the affections of all who 
were saved upon himself. The love of Christ constrains 
the people, and the thanks, gratitude and supreme love of 
the believing heart are rendered to Christ. Christ is the 
sun of light, the centre of attraction, the joy and praise of 
all who bow the soul in humble submission to God. The 
very position Christ assumed, and the labors he performed 
in the plan of salvation, had a powerful and uniform ten- 
dency to secure for himself the affection and supreme love 
of his people. Therefore, if Christ be a mere man only, 
he destroys all true worship and establishes nothing but 



IS DIVINITY OF CUR] 811 

idolatry; but if he be God, then everj pity of hie heart, 

\ ery act of self-denial, 
m. mis work, and the sum total of his f unto death 

for the salvation <>f a fallen world, was conducive to el< 
concentrate and strengthen powerfully, the worship of God 
as rendered to Christ. The writer of a small book, titled, 
M Philosophy of the Plan *)( Salvation/ 1 Bpeaks and n 
in the following strain. 

M Now, suppose that Jesus Christ was not God, nor a 
true manifestation of the Godhead in human nature, but a 
man, or angel, authorized by God to accomplish the re- 
demption of the human race from sin and misery. In 
doing this, it appears, from the nature of things and from 
the Scriptures, that he did what was adapted to, and what 
does, draw the heart of every true believer — as in the case 
of the apostles and early christians — unto himself, as the 
supreme or governing object of affection. Their will is 
governed by the will of Christ ; and love to him moves 
their heart and hands. Now, if it be true that Jesus Christ 
is not God, then he has devised and executed a plan, by 
which the supreme affections of the human heart are drawn 
to himself, and alienated from God, the proper object of 
love and worship : and, God having authorized this plan, 
he has devised means to make man love Christ, the crea- 
ture, more than the Creator, who is God over all, blessed 
fore verm ore. 

M But, is it said, that Christ having taught and suffered 
by the will and authority of God, we are under obligation 
to love God for what Christ has done for us. It is an- 
swered, that this is impossible. We cannot love one being 
for what another does or sutlers in our behalf. We can 
love no being for labors and self-denials in our behalf, but 
that being who voluntarily labors and denies himself. // 
is the kindness and mercy exhibited in the self-denial that 



312 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

moves the affections ; and the affections can move to no 
being but to the one that makes the self-denials, because it is 
the self-denials that draw out the love of the heart. 

"Is it still said, that Christ was sent by God, to do His 
will and not his own ; and therefore we ought to love God, 
as the being to whom love and gratitude is due, for what 
Christ said and suffered? Then it is answered: if God 
willed that Christ, as a creature of his, should come, and 
by his sufferings and death redeem sinners, we ought not to 
love Christ for it, because he did it as a creature, in obe- 
dience to the commands of God, and was not self-moved 
nor meritorious in the work; and we cannot love God for 
it, for the labor and self-denial was not borne by him. 
And further ; if one being, by an act of his authority, should 
cause another innocent being to suffer, in order that he 
might be loved who had imposed the suffering, but not 
borne it, it would render him unworthy of love. If God 
had caused Jesus Christ, being his creature, to suffer, that 
he might be loved himself for Christ's sufferings, while he 
had no connection with them ; instead of such an exhibition, 
on the part of God, producing love to him, it would pro- 
duce pity for Christ, and aversion towards God. So that 
neither Christ, nor God, nor any other being, can be loved 
for mercy extended, by self-denials to the needy, unless 
those self-denials were produced by a voluntary act of mercy 
upon the part of the being who suffers them. And no 
being, but the one who made the sacrifices, could be merito- 
rious in the case. It follows, therefore, uncontrovertibly, 
that if Christ was a creature — no matter of how exalted 
worth — and not God ; and if God approved of his work in 
saving sinners, he approved of treason against his own 
government; because, in that case, the work ol Christ was 
adapted to draw, and did necessarily, draw the affections 
of the human soul to himself, as its spiritual Savior, and 



ism 0] ( in. i 313 

thus alieuate them frona God, their rightful object And 

b Christ himself had the design of drawi affec- 

h) himself in view, by Ins crucifixion: sayi he t , and 

I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all meu unto 

me.' Tins he said, Bigllifj ing what death he should die : 
thus distinctly Stating thai it was the self-denials and mercy 

exhibited in the crucifixion thai would draw out the aflec- 

Of the human soul, and that those atleetions would be 

drawn to himself as the Buffering Savior, Bui that God 
would sanction a scheme which would involve treason 
against Himself, and that Christ should participate in it, is 
absurd and impossible, and therefore cannot be true. 

"But if the divine nature was united with the human, in 
the teaching and work of Christ — if 'God was in Christ 
drawing the affections of men, or reconciling the world 
to himself ' — if, when Christ was lifted up, as Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, he drew, as he said he 
would, the arfections of all believers to himself; and then, 
as he ascended, as the second person of the Trinity, into 
the bosom of the eternal Godhead — He, thereby, after he 
had engaged, by his work on earth, the affections of the 
human soul, bore them up to the bosom of the Father, 
from whence they had fallen. Thus the ruins of the fall 
were rebuilt, and the affections of the human soul again 
restored to God, the Creator, and proper object of supreme 
love." 

If these remarks are not sound, and right to the point, 
then it will be very difficult to say anything relevant. But 
sound reason will bow with submission to the position and 
frankly acknowledge the necessity and propriety of the 
doctrine, thai Jesus Christ is the God of the Universe. 

There is a class of Scripture passages which seems to 
teach, that Christ is inferior to the Father, and all such 
passages, in the opinion of the caviler are irreconcilable 



114 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

with the doctrine that Christ is God. They are only ap- 
parently so, in consequence of the false position assumed 
and a wrong application of the passages quoted. This 
will appear evident from the subsequent remarks. " For 
my Father is greater than I." John xiv. 28. " The Son 
can do nothing of himself, hut what he seeth the Father 
do : for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the 
Son likewise." John v. 19. u The Father loveth the Son t 
and hath given all things into his hands." iii. 35. " But 
of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the 
angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the 
Father." Mark xiii. 32. In order to reconcile such pas- 
sages with those which seem to teach the Supreme Divinity 
of Christ, we must recognize in Christ a two-fold being — 
that he was possessed of an original and of an assumed 
nature. The divine attributes are ascribed to Christ in his 
original nature, while inferiority and the characteristics of 
a man are attributed to him in his assumed or human na- 
ture. The Bible actually speaks of the Savior in this 
sense, and its language can be interpreted rightly, only with 
a full recognition of the Godhead and Manhood uniting in 
Christ. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, 
full of grace and truth." John i. 14. "And, without con- 
troversy, great is the mystery of godliness : God was mani- 
fest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, 
preachecl unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, re- 
ceived up into glory." 1 Tim. iii. 16. " Who, being in 
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with 
God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon 
himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
of men." Phil. ii. 6, 7, 

This being the case, it is evident, that all those texts of 
Scripture which imply a character inferior to the eternal 
God, must have direct reference to his human nature ; 



JTPREME DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 315 

while all those which speak of Christ, and attribute to him 
the name, attributes and worship of God, must indicate 

>Ctrine, that He is truly God. At times the Savior is 

spoken of as a man, possessing complete humanity though 

sinless and innocent ; ami at other tunes the Redeemer is 

declared to be the Creator of the world; as having existed 
before all things and upholding all things by the word of 
his power; as possessing all power and holding the desti- 
nies of the rational world in his hands j as infolding the 
infinite 1 perfections of God in his person, and comprehend- 
ing with his intellectual grasp the complicated movements 
of the Universe; ami as combining in his being the essence 
and honor of the Godhead, and therefore worthy of the 
Supreme worship of all hearts, the loftiest praise and most 
devout adoration, rolling up to heaven from the smoking 
altars of earth's humble worshipers, or floating in melodi- 
ous strains on the balmy breezes of the upper Paradise. 
The divine mandate of the eternal Throne rolled across the 
plains of glory, and along the ranks of the myriads of the 
heavenly host, "Let all the angels worship him;" and 
coming in a voice of superadded strength along the tragic 
scenes of bloody Calvary to the inhabitants of the earth, 
whispering its accents through conscience, nature and re- 
velation, " Let all the people worship him and transfer 
their supreme affections upon the Lamb forever and ever." 

There are a few practical thoughts, growing out of this 
subject, worthy of sober reflection, and of important bear- 
ing on the character of those who profess to love and wor- 
ship our God. 

1. The doctrine we have been discussing must be admit- 
ted as a fact and as founded upon the unequivocal testimo- 
ny of inspiration, or else, to be consistent, we must reject 
many of the doctrines of the Bible, and many of the phe- 
nomena of nature. It cannot be that any should be inclined 



316 THE GODHEAD AND THE 

to reject the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ for want of pro- 
per, decisive and substantial proof, for there is no cause more 
ably and convincingly sustained by testimony. The only 
ground assumed for a rejection of this doctrine, is, that it is 
mysterious and inexplicable. This charge is equally valid 
against many other doctrines, and natural things, as we have 
shown, if we are allowed to discard the one, let us throw all 
overboard. But this is unwise, we should submit to the au- 
thority of God, without asking the why and wherefore, in 
articles of faith, and doctrines of divine revelation, admit- 
ting that they must be reasonable, though above the flight 
of human reason, and standing on a foundation never mark- 
ed with the footprints of reason liable to err, for they ema- 
nate from a Being supremely perfect and incapable of error. 
Admit the same evidence to have weight and conclusive 
force, which are of unquestionable authority to prove the 
law of gravitation, &c, and the doctrine we are defending, 
will stand triumphant, and the Bible be saved from the tor- 
ture of stupid and reckless rules of interpretation and ob- 
jections. 

2. This doctrine has an essential connection with sound 
and soul-saving religious worship. The conceptions we 
form of the divine nature and character, will lay the foun- 
dation of our religion. To worship a created being as 
God, is wickedness and idolatry ; and to worship God as 
a Being widely different from what he actually is, cannot 
constitute true worship, and thus our religion will be based 
upon an imaginary God and not upon the true God. We 
may be sincere, so may the Pagan and Mohammedan, yet 
sincerity cannot change a lie into the truth, or false devo- 
tion into true and saving religion. As principles lie at the 
foundation of right actions, so sound doctrines form the ba- 
sis of evangelical religion. 

3. This doctrine has a vital connection with many other 



SUPRKMK DIVINITY 01 CHRIST. 817 

doctrines of the Bible. Reject this, and you uproot man} 
precious doctrines, and rend to tatters the economy of R - 
demption. The atonement of Christ Btands or falls with 
the Divinity of Christ We shall not enlarge to show die 
vital connection of the two ; but merely cite as proof the 
practical results — that those who reject the divine charac- 
ter of Christ in its fullest extent, arc equally decided in re- 
nouncing the atonement of Christ Bocinians do so; Uni- 
versalists do the same, &c« The common notions of the 
atonement, as effected by the vicarious sufferings of Christ, 
and as the ground of pardon and reconciliation with God, 
they boastfully denounce as a system of gross injustice and 
consummate absurdity. Cast away the atonement, and 
you blot out the moral sun from a perishing world — you 
close up the portals of glory, and you make inevitably cer- 
tain the remediless destruction of a fallen race. If you 
would cling to the atonement of Jesus, then admit and wor- 
ship Christ as God, and thereby you will bestow equal 
honor on the Father, for " he that honoreth the Son, hon- 
oreth the Father likewise." 

4. If the foregoing remarks are correct, then the doctrine 
is closely allied with the cheering hopes of immortal be- 
ings. Candid reader, if you would secure the favor of 
God, and finally bask in the beams of unremitting felicity, 
then build your hopes on Christ as God, and on his all- 
sufficient atonement. Escape from the errors of Univer- 
salism as the mariner would from the rock and roaring 
breakers of death. Here alone is safety. And with a 
view to guide you into all truth, and to surround you with 
the everlasting arms of mercy, we have succinctly present- 
ed to your ingenuous attention the foregoing reflections. 
Will you ponder upon and cordially embrace the truth ? 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 

" Jl man hath no pre-eminence above a beast ; for all is 
vanity." Ecc. iii. 19. 

The language of the wise man is perfectly true, while 
limited to, and expressive of, the external appearance of 
earthly calamity and temporal death, as, doubtless, it was 
directly used for this purpose ; but when men, who are 
wise above what is written, insist on Solomon's language 
as expressive of the sentiment that in man there is no im- 
mortality — that his life and being are as transitory, and as 
actually perish, as the brute creation ; they are guilty of 
using unjustifiable license with the Scriptures, and with 
the uprising and throbbing emotions of the conscious soul. 
It is true, that many live a life of atheism, and as though' 
they were unblessed with a nature and destiny superior to 
the brute ; yet all this does not warrant the shocking con- 
clusion, that man has no immortal soul. For all this, there 
may lie within him, though buried and debased, mental 
faculties, and moral powers, and latent aspirations, which 
rank him with immortal beings ; and when brought under 
religious training and proper development, he will be qual- 
ified to range over the Elysian fields of immortality, and 
scan the ever-varying evolutions of inexhaustible glory. 

To deny that the soul is immortal and repress that grand 
and ever-desirable attribute of man's inner nature, is the 
product of deep depravity and groveling baseness. It is 



—it is 
bruti 

those w no reject the • 

ians, who profess to b< lieve that the 
pirituality, and no 

• -in- only 
immortali istian doctrine of a 

That ninny among the Uni\ crsalists be- 
lieve in the materiality of the mind, and deny that man is 
properly immortal, is a point easily proved. Perhaps, 
many of their preachers hold to the immortal and separate 
ex; the soul, and others believe it a doctrine of 

such small importance as unworthy of careful investiga- 
tion; as A. B. Grosh, of Utica, declares. That many of the 
>ple adhere to the theory of the Scriptural doctrine on 
ject, and others deny it, is unquestionable. The 
doctrine of materialism is variously modified and presents 
ious phases. From rank Materialism, as advocated by 
Priestly and others, that matter in a certain state of organi- 
>n is the only mind, man is in possession of, and that 
re is no such thing as a spiritual and separate substance 
superadded to man, we find some advocating the destruc- 
tion and annihilation of all the wicked after the resurrec- 
tion ; and others, that man will have no conscious exist- 
ence from the period of death until the resurrection, and 
the immortal existence of man is not dependent on 
anything in himself, but wholly dependent upon the resur- 
;on of the dead. All of these positions and modifying 
explanations constitute a virtual denial of the spiritual, sep- 
arate and immortal existence of the soul. How far Uni- 
. harmonizes with the above views, 
wil1 bo s twn a comparison be- 

of a number of the principal advocates 
14 



320 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOIL. 

of the system of Universalism, and the foregoing principles 
of Materialism. 

We will begin Avith "Walter Balfour, the good and amia- 
ble man, as A. B. Grosh calls him; for he is a fold denier 
of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. He is the 
man who has effected mighty things for Universalism, in 
conjunction with Hosea Ballou. They applied the plastic 
hand of learning and influence to Universalism, and mculd- 
ed it to its present shape and position. How far they have 
revolutionized the mind of their fraternity, and fitted them 
to follow in the wake of their reformatory progress, time 
will yet disclose ? That they may bring the great portion 
of the denomination to assume their present position, may 
be anticipated, without seeming precipitate and harsh, frcm 
the success which has crowned their labors heretofore 
among their brethren. 

Walter Balfour says, in reply to the Editors of the " Olive 
Branch," " I would then say to the Editors of that paper, 
if a rejection, 'of the doctrines of the immortality of the 
soul? makes'me an infidel in their estimation, I would thank 
them to tell all the ivorld that I have no faith in it ; and 
that they must produce far better proof of it frcm the Bi- 
ble, before I can believe it. They, and all others who be- 
lieve it, are nearer to heathenism and infidelity, than I am 
in rejecting it. I will also be obliged to them, to tell all 
the ivorld, that I believe it to be a doctrine of heathen ori- 
gin." Such a testimony against the doctrine of the immor- 
tality of the soul is bold and unequivocal. Mr. Balfour 
declares distinctly where he may be found. 

If a man can harbor such sentiments and still be frater- 
nized by the denomination as " a good and amiable broth- 
er," then it is true, that the people .either harmonize in 
views and feelings, or else they deem the doctrine of the 
immortality of the soul of but small importance. How 



32 1 

much better is • immortality uf the 

soul, and fro* m hea- 

thenism, than a downright infidel I 

of Walter Balfour, as he has d id fully 

expressed it. We might add a few quotations from Ins 
• in reference to man's exit from this 
"M, and entrance into heaven, " I send do 

n at death, nor at an) period after it, 
until the resurrection of all the dead." Thus, there is 
nothing in the nature of man which will insure existence 
after death, or an entrance into heaven, even ff Universal- 
ism be true; nor is there any great probability of man's 
' ' until ail mrrection from the dead. This 

is ;in oBvious of the immateriality and immortality 

of the soul, and of a: ous existence from the day 

of death until the resurrection morning. He asks Pro 

Stuart, "Does the gospel, sir, bring to light any other 
life and immortality, hut by a resurrection from the dead I 
If it does, I will thank you to show this, for here I confess 
ignorance." He adds, "I travel through both Old and 
New Testament in search of evidence for your immortal 
soul ; but I can find none, that either such a soul was 
breathed into man, or is breathed out of any one at death." 
According to the views of this teacher in Israel, no man has 
any pre-eminence above a brute, and he would have no 
more assurance of future existence than the beasts that per- 
ish, were it not for the doctrine of the resurrection of the 
dead. These are the views of the learned champion of 
modern Universalism ; and there is no intelligent Univer- 
salis! who will venture to deny that this is the true position 
of Balfour. A. B. Grosh acknowledges that Mr. B. en- 
tertains these sentiments; but he disowns that they have 
a general prevalence in die denomination, 



322 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOIL. 

But there are others who hold the same sentiments ; and 
many more who are altogether unwilling to commit them- 
selves either on the one side or the other. Mr. Hosea Bal- 
lou, at times professes his total ignorance of the future, and 
at other times obviously doubts the conscious existence of 
the soul in the intermediate state, lie says, " After all that 
has been said by our doctors of divinity on the subject of a 
future state, reason will acknowledge that they have no more 
knowledge concerning its particulars, than an infant child. 
No, they do not knoic for certainty that man will exist 
in another state, I am happy to believe in the doctrine of 
the Scriptures, and to hope for immortality beyond the 
grave ; but as to any knowledge concerning that state, / 
have none." Again he says, " Being fully satisfied that 
the Scriptures teach us to believe no moral state, between 
the death of the body and the resurrection-state, it seemed 
to me immaterial whether we enter, immediately, after the 
dissolution of the body, on the resurrection-state, or sleep 
in unconscious quietude any given time before that glori- 
ous event shall take place." Here we learn, that the pro- 
found mind of Ballou, has discovered, that it is quite un- 
certain from Scripture, whether man shall repose in un- 
conscious sleep after death until the resurrection, or enter 
immediately upon the resurrection-state ; yea. it is a doubt- 
ful matter, whether man shall have an existence in another 
state ; but one thing is certain, in the opinion of Mr. Bal- 
lou, that the Scriptures teach no moral state, between the 
dissolution of the body and the resurrection. Pray, what 
state must that be, where moral and rational beings can ex- 
ist, without involving moral character ? It cannot be a 
state of activity, for where activity is put forth by rational 
beings, there must be moral character — it cannot be a state 
of misery, for all misery and punishment in man is the re- 
sult of moral delinquency — and it cannot be a state of bliss, 



I in [MMO 01 i • 

i te is impossible without mi I holi- 

It must either be a b1 nihilation % or i 

Whether M i. Ballou eaii find either doc- 

ht iti the Bible, or fairly deducible from 

thing contained therein, we shall take the Libert} to doubt. 

llr :\\rv of modern 1 1 ai rid up 

. ing followers, to i inqui- 

ibout the future, tin of the soul after the dis- 

solution of the body, and with a countenance marked with 
labored thought and horrid agitation, he b lys, m; 
1 confess that 1 am as ignbranl as a child about the partic- 

of the future — it is not certain whether man shall en- 
joy another state — it is not clear whether any one will be 
v in heaven immediately after death, or all be rocked 
into an unconscious sleep until the resurrection-day. I pre- 
tend to know nothing of all this, and above all it is imma- 
terial ; all I do know about this, is, that none shall enter 
upon a moral state until after the resurrection. Can such 
dark and wretched doctrines be consoling and buoyant to 
a dying man ? he battles the monster death, he stands on 
the crumbling verge of time, all is dark and dreary before 
him, no light and no knowledge of the future — whether his 
leap will be into the dark abyss of wo, or sink into noth- 
or sleep unconsciously as a stone for ages, and then 
up, by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, are 
questions which Hosea Ballou cannot solve with certainty. 
But the Bible says, he that walketh while it is day, stum- 
bleth not, the path of peace and the assurances of immor- 
tal bliss are so clear to those who walk uprightly, that they 
need not err, or be disconsolate in death. 

Mr. T.i J" t« There is no evidence of man pos- 

)ut him immortal. He docs not con- 
sider the mind to possess the attribute of immortality ; be- 
cause, like the body, it may be d I by accident." 



nil; IMMO 

He predicates the happ; f man in etem 

originating and being dependent on the resurrection of the 
b, "The future state of man, he considers, 
resurrection, and that state will, according to 
the apostle, be glorious for all." 

Thus we find that Balfour, Ballou, and LeFevre, look 
for the final salvation of the human race and their restora- 
tion to holiness and happiness, not to the fact that men are 
immortal, and that Christ has died for them, but to the 
event when the dead shall be raised to life ; that they 
embrace the very doctrine, more or less valiantly, which 
Abner Kneeland held, that there was no " intermediate 
state of conscious existence between death and the resur- 
rection ; and of course death to him is an extinction of -be- 
ing ; and all his ideas of a future state of existence, are 
predicated on the glorious doctrine of the resurrection." 

We make a few quotations more to prove that there are 
some who embrace and boldly express the doctrine of ma- 
terialism. A certain writer says, in one of their papers, 
" When the body dies and the nervous system with it, all 
these phenomena cease and are irrecoverably gone. We 
never possess after death, so far as our senses can inform 
us, the slightest evidence of the existence of any remain- 
ing being, which, connected with the body during life, is 
separated from it at death." " If the intellectual pheno- 
mena is the soul, and dependent upon corporeal organiza- 
tion, when the body dies, it will, of course, cease to exist " 
Another writer declares, " Nor is it now admitted by Uni- 
yersalists generally, that man possesses two natures, 3*c." 
Mr. Ballou says, " A careful examination of our natural 
senses, as mediums of pleasure and pain, and health and 
sickness, will very naturally lead to a consideration of these 
same senses as being the origin, as far as we can see, of 
our thoughts and volitions.''' If our senses are the origin 



of otu thoughts and volition, then - 

mind; and since our elling, 

Peeling, :;:, l then the mind 

it in iterial, identical. Thi 

i ilism. T | when t : ; man 

! he returns to hii 

:ill tin- 

i of the e »ul ; an I 

ed by the ne - 

power of the ! 'ii, 

Now we firmly believe, that all those who turn 

:ii foot to the testimonies of Universalism, will 
Led to the above horrid conclusion — they 
will plunge into the stormy billows of infidel Materialism, 
are many who do not believe the views of Bal- 
lou and Balfour, especially among the common people, but 
who believe that man has a soul that is immortal, and that, 
immediately after death, he reaps a blissful reward, we have 
charity enough to accord to them. Yet after all, we believe, 
that many entertain scruples about the conscious existence 
of the soul in the intermediate state, as well as of the soul's 
immortality, who, from prudential reasons, will never di- 
vulge their sentiments from the pulpit. Our belief of this 
is founded on the facts, that the hading influence of the 
'ion is that way, that the natural tendency of 
the system conducts to those conclusions, that those who 
favor the immortality of the soul deem the doctrine of but 
8tn ill im j trtance, and that the advocates of Materialism are 
not diso vi the denomination. 

To prosecute our inquiries on this important subject, we 

shall show thai trine of Materialism is false — that 

• existence between the dissolution 

of the bod u erection — that the wicked will not 

be annihilated — and that the doctrine of the immortality of 



the son reasonable — will 

impose upon us the duty to study condensation and brevity. 
1. TVe shall show that the doctrine of Mate\ 

By Materialism we understand*, I m of phil- 

osophy which teaches that man lias but one di 
consisting of matter with diffei (inement, 

and that he is not a compound being, made up of soul and 
Ay. That the system of nerves is matter refined and so 
modified as to perform the office of thought, imagination, 
consciousness, and passions; and consequently when the 
body is dissolved in death and returns to its original ele- 
ments, there is a cessation of our being, or conscious exist- 
ence, and if ever man shall have a conscious existence 
r, it must be effected by the new-creating power of 
the resurrection. For the reason, that Universalists put so 
much dependence upon the resurrection and look up to it 
as the only ground and hope of a happy immortality, we 
are induced to believe that the philosophy of Materialism 
exerts a far-reaching influence over the denomination, 
that the great majority of the teachers are more or 
tinctured with its principles. And so far as this philosophy 
affects tlie system of Universalis m, it -is affected with false- 
hood and absurdity. 

A system of matter, however refined and modified, must 
ever be distinct in its properties and operations from that 
principle in man, which thinks and reasons, and is always 
active and full of life. He who denies a spiritual principle 
in man, in its nature superior and distinct from matter, as- 
serts that the nervous system of man, is the organ of sen- 
sation, of thought, of imagination, of reasoning, of coi u 
ousness, &c. But is this position -sound, philosophic, and 
truthful ; or erroneous, absurd and false ? "What do we 
know of, and how do we secure an acquaintance with the 
properties and operations of matter? And how of mind 



I II ! . l.MM 01 I HI i»l I.. 

which thii 

Th< ist defines his position in the 

: " That the thinking part of man 1 
terial, or spiritual ; and that w id to die, 

deed die, and of con: 3 to think or b 

This must be true, thai man shall 
Lth; provided it is an undoubted fact, tl 

tial nature ; but it* to hi 
body there is superadded a distinct principle from ra 
superior and mo lent, then lor aught reason m: 

cious being may survive the dissolution 
i body. We know mate rial substances by the pro- 
I .• and immutable in them, but we form i 

qnaintance with mind in a different mode. Matter is known 
by th solidity, extension, divisibility, in- 

: but the thinking principle in man by none of 
. but by intuitive consciousness, and the exercise of 
its powers. One class nf laws, physical in their nature, 
are alone adapted to govern matter; and quite another class 
of laws are adapted and put into exercise to govern the 
mind, spiritual and moral in their nature. All matter is in- 
ert, and only acts as moved upon ; but the mind has a self- 
ver active and full of life. There 
is no period from the point of conscious existence, but that 
the mind of man has conscious exercises, whether the bodv 
Oft it mounts on the swift winors of 
n and scans revolvii — it survevs sea and 

'.ill and dal ■ — it stands at the crater of the burning 
1st the tumbling and quaking earth while 
-I upon by maddened earthquakes. Life is also an 
( f the mind, hut not so of matter. If 

titute material subs would 

be universally prevah-nt ; but since th y not 



328 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 

therefore it is not essential to constitute matter. 
But life is indispensably i . to constitute mind, there- 

fore there is no mind existing in this wide world without 
life being virtually connected with it. Whenever you see 
mind, there you discover the attribute life, in full activity 
and force. No mind can exist without life, it is the vital 
and inseparable basis ; but it is not essential to material 
substances, for they do exist in many and modified forms 
without life. The physical structure of man, is as accurate 
and complete in all its parts from bone to the muscles and 
nerves of the brain after life is extinct, as it was in all its 
former activities. There is no evasion, by asserting that 
the nervous system ceases to be the organ of thought, re- 
flection and of consciousness, because animal life is dis- 
missed from the body, for if so, then for aught we know 
the brain is not the organ of thought, but our animal life. 
This would be shifting ground, without securing a better, a 
more tenable position. 

Matter cannot possess intelligence, for it is void of, and 
incompetent to exercise perceptive faculties, comprehend 
things and their relations. It is not in matter — intelligence 
cannot be predicated of any material substance ; it is the 
attribute of mind alone, the spiritual powers of the soul. 
They reason, perceive, compare and exercise thought, and 
thus acquire intelligence. 

The Materialist offers the following argument to prove 
that matter fitly modified is the organ of thought, and that 
man has no spiritual principle superadded as the organ of 
intelligence: "We have not the least knowledge of, and 
cannot conceive of, any being or agent — >any thing that can 
act, or do any thing — which is not material." This posi- 
tion is daring and blasphemous, for it sets up the knowledge 
of man as the absolute standard of what is, and what is not, 
of what things can be, and what things cannot be. For a 



i nr UfMOH i mi i \ 01 in i. 32fl 

man to suppose that there cannot be any spiritual subsist- 
because his knowledge does not comprehend any *uc\[ 
agent, is the height of presumption and y« Many 

things in nature do exist, which former generations did not 
comprehend, bu has now disclosed and established 

by incontrovertible proof — many thing ill exist of 

which the world is ignorant and probably everwiU be; yet 
we therefore conclude that all things lying beyond the 
comprehension of man are void of reality, a sham. This 
is the legitimate tendency of the position of the Materialist, 
therefore supremely absurd and foolish. 

This same argument, in its sweeping application, would 
overthrow the character and existence of Jehovah. The 
eternal God must either be material, or else his existence is 
a figment of some fanatic, provided the philosophy of the 
ialist i.-> true. If all agents are material, then God is 
ial, or else there is no God. That God is immaterial 
is proved by the utter impossibility of his being otherwise. 
Ail material substances have location and geometrical lim- 
its; but God has not, for he is infinite in all his perfections. 
God as the Creator of the Universe must possess intelli- 
gence, therefore perceptive faculties, as all nature in its 
adaptation and design clearly and infallibly declares; but as 
intelligence can never be affirmed of matter, therefore God 
is not a material Being. Here then, there is a Being or 
Agent with active powers and consummate wisdom engaged 
to eonstruct and uphold the material world, and of whom 
we have some conception, as the most perfect and the best 
of all Beings, and yet He is purely spiritual. And if there 
be one spiritual Being, there may be others, for if it be posi- 
r one, it is possible for more spiritual agents to exist. 
Ano Rent. "We have as much reason to believe 

— the same kind of facts, altogether to prove — that the 
brain is an organ of thought, as that the liver is an or^an 



THE IM MORTALITY OF T1IK 

for the secretion of bile." In man there is a structure of 
nerves accurately and wisely located and intertwisted with 
the entire physical form. From the brain, the sensorium, 
the nerves spread through the spinal marrow and into i 
ry extremity of the body, so that you cannot prick the skin 
with the finest needle, without touching a nerve. 80 soon 
U any thing comes in contact, or disturbs a nerve, a sensa- 
tion is produced, and is conveyed with an electric shock 
along that nerve to the brain ; and so soon as it reaches 
the brain we have a conscious sensation. The sensation 
is one thing, and the conscious perception is quite another 
thing — the one is the action of the nerve, and the other 
is the perception of that action. The nerve does not per- 
ceive, it has the sensation alone ; but that which perceives 
and exercises the judgment is what we call mind. 

But the Materialist says, that the evidence is as strong 
that the brain is the organ of thought, as that the liver is the 
organ for the secretion of the bile. The liver is the organ, 
and bile is the result of its legitimate operation, the effect 
answering the cause. To prove that the brain is the organ. 
of thought and that there is no perceptive immaterial prin- 
ciple superadded, it is necessary to show that thought as an 
effect holds the same relation to the brain, that the bile does 
to the liver. We need not prove that the liver is a material 
substance, and equally evident is it that the bile is also ma- 
terial, therefore, the effect is legitimate from the cause— 
This position is philosophical and a clear demonstration.— 
But how is it with the brain as the organ of thought and 
consciousness? The brain is a mass of nervous matter ex- 
quisitely constructed and is material ; while thought and 
perception, the budding of intelligence, cannot be conceived ' 
to be material. What ! the thoughts, perceptions and intel- 
ligence of man, material substances governed by physical 
laws and possessing the properties of solidity, "extension. 



nil 

divisibility, inertia, &c! [f this" ia rrd even to chal- 

tion, then thoughts do not hold the same phi- 
i elation to the brain, thai bile does to the I 
nor have we th o prove the 

position of the Materialist. 

If nerves, because the) bai e the po^ er of 

[j :ilso perceive and think, then the w 
of the hand or of the foot might as readily ble of 

thought and consciousness 1 , as Ihe nerves of tin- brain. The 
material si; nd construction of the IK I 

throughout the physical system. The brain which is the 
natural instrument to carry forward the sensations and im- 
ions of external tilings, is but the organ to directly 
convey the sensation to the mind, which perceives that sen- 
sation, judges and reasons relatively to that object which 
is the remote cause of the sensation. The different adjust- 
ment of the nerves, which constitute the various senses of 
the body as inlets of knowledge, is designed to convey 
multiform impressions to the brain, where the mind re< 
its sensations and enlarges its intelligence. The brain does 
no more perceive and reason upon the sensation or the ob- 
ject producing it, than the nerves of the hand; it is only 
the organ to hear the sensation to the reasoning mind. This 
mind is an immaterial principle superadded, and compri- 
nt the intellectual and moral powers of man. 
Another argument: " The power of thinking is quite as 
e at birth as any other organic power. It increases 
hit growth; it is the most perfect in manhood, and it 
becomes impaired as decrepid age comes on !" It is quite 
:it and philosophical, that the powers of mind, or of 
t it, should be feeble in childhood; for the organs of their 

and they just began to exist, (for the 
rs of thou ans of the 

bodv,) and the obvious design is that they should improve 



332 1111. IMMORTALITY Of THE BOX L. 

and be developed. But this dors not prove, that they 

are material, because they are feeble ; nor docs it prove 
that they are imperfect in kind. They grow with the 
growth of the body and become more or less vigorous in 

proportion to improvement. And the decline of the men- 
tal and reflective powers with the decline of the body, or 
with decrepid age, is but apparent, and not real. Some 
in advanced age show strong intellectual powers ; others, 
while the body is feeble and tottering, reveal a mind as 
vigorous as ever ; while others, when yet comparatively 
young, manifest an utter wreck of mind. If the mind- 
were a part of the material body, there would be some uni- 
formity about the decay of the .power of thought. A man 
in dotage, the most striking case of a ruined mind, would 
be likely to forget things remote in the past, as immediate 
circumstances ; but we have seen cases when circumstan- 
ces were precisely remembered which had taken place 
scores of years previous, while they could not conduct a 
connected conversation. Diseases at times apparently des- 
troy the memory, perception, and all the powers of mind, 
but after the recovery of health, the mind is again vigorous. 
Now, the impairment of the mind is but apparent and not 
real in old age, and under the influence of disease ; the 
grand defect is in the organs of the body. When the body 
is peculiarly affected, impaired or enfeebled, the mind is 
wanting in proper organs to operate and manifest itself. If 
a mechanic labors with poor, ill-shaped and broken tools, 
his work will be accordingly, and reflect discredit upon his 
skill ; so if the mind has poor organs of the body and a 
diseased brain, through which to operate, it will manifest a 
decline of its powers. 

We believe the mind to be immortal and spiritual ; ca- 
pable from the age of infancy of developing its powers, be- 
coming enlarged and mighty by discipline, in mature age. 



[MM0RTALIT1 01 rii I 899 

•urvn ; and the crashing poM 

mi of time 

T i ■ i ml of m m ia as m h 
• as thjB h ad as 

g the uncrunibling pillars of God's throne 
We draw one argument from the Bible as recorded in 
Matth. x. 28, " And fear not them which kill the body* but 
are not able to kill the soul ■ but rather fear him which is 
able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Men have 
the power to kill the body of their fellow man, hut they 
not the power to kill the soul — this they cannot reacli 
with carnal weapons. We shall not stop to prove what is 
meant by the term soul as used in the text, but presume 
that it refer.- to the power of thought, affection, will, con- 
a and imagination. This substance they cannot 
destroy, lor it is spiritual and immaterial. If the brain is 
the power of thought and reasoning, then men may destroy 
it when they kill the body ; for the brain, with the whole 
system of nerves, is a part of the body, and becomes disor- 
dered, prostrate and inactive when the body is dissolved. — 
The above passage, with its parallels, is divine proof con- 
clusive, that the system of Materialism is false in fact 
and unworthy of confidence ; and with the Scriptural argu- 
ment we might have been satisfied, but in view of the 
queries proposed and arguments used, professedly based on 
H and the structure of the physical frame, we were in- 
clined to tr ;• the ground and expose the fallacy of 
tnded philosophy. 
2. V 'I be a com istence between the time 
of the > i of the h > ly, and the resurrection. 

This position might be inferred from the remarks already 
made. If tli i mind is not material, but spiritual, and is not 
necessarily destroyed with the dissolution of the body, then 



334 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOT'T.. 

while it doos exist, it must be conscious, and all its pow 
be in lively exercise. It is impossible for the mind, with 
essential life and activity, unaffected by the disposition of 
the body, to sink into unconscious sleep, when dismissed 
from the body. 

The Bible is the chief source of argument on this point. 
The nature and capacity of the soul, may afford strong and 
satisfactory reasons for the ever conscious existence of the 
soul ; nevertheless the word of God is the main support, 
and is conclusive in this matter. The Old Testament re- 
presents individuals as. going into the place of departed spir- 
its (Sheol and Hades) immediately after death. Jacob is 
spoken of as declaring his great sorrow for his son Joseph, 
and that he would -"go down into the grave (Sheol, or 
place of departed spirits) unto his son mourning," Gen. 
xxxvii. 35. "The wicked shall be turned into hell" — (into 
Sheol.) Ps. ix. 17. The rich man and Lazarus died and 
found themselves in the world of departed spirits, with a 
conscious existence, the one in torments and the other in 
bliss. Whatever you may call this portion of Scripture, a 
parable or an historical fact, it will ever bear testimony in 
favor of a future conscious existence. If the Bible gave no 
other assurance of a conscious being after death until the 
resurrection, this would be sufficient. 

But when Christ was on the Mount of Transfiguration, 
he conversed with Moses and Elias, who had left the world 
more than a thousand years previous, the one by natural 
death and the other was translated. If men have no con- 
scious existence after death, then these two saints of God 
would not have had. But since these had in the interme- 
diate state, there is an assurance that others will have. The 
thief upon the cross had the promise of Christ that, that 
very day he should be with him in paradise. No sooner 
was the body dead and the spirit departed, than the soul 



had :i CODBClOUfl 

rid, where ha] 
nantly revealed. Thai Christ's spun entered int i 
when the thief 1 him, is evident from tin- Bible, 

cvi, 10. "For thou will not >ul in hell 

lither will thou suffer thine I [oly our 
ruption." The term hell refers to f 'i 

spirits, and to that part of Hnlis, whe 

of In rijoyed ; from them when 

turned to life and his body rose from the 

the soul h . tee after death until the 

on, how would the dying man have known wheth- 
er lie was with Christ that day in paradise, or not? This 
proof is conclu 

The Apostle Paul had a desire to depart from this world 
and be with Christ, which would be far better. This could 
not be said, if the soul sinks into the torpor of the grave 
after death. Again, he says, that while he was present with 
the body, he was absent from the Lord; but when absent 
from the body, the presence of the Lord is secured. All 
this directly teaches that the soul will not sleep after death, 
but live and act in the spirit-world. 

When a man dies, his spirit immediately takes its flight 
into the eternal world, and takes up its abode in heaven, or 
in hell. While the friends are weeping, while the shroud 
is beingrmade, the coffin prepared, the grave dug, the soul of 
.'. ment has found its eternal destiny, await- 
in? the sentence of the judgment. 

3. That the souls of the wicked will not be annihilated, 
r after death, or subsequent to the judgment. 

There are those who advocate the system, that all the 
: . and that the curse and punishment 
i will consume their souls "out of the universe of. 
God." Aiie:',_ the advocates of this system were the follow- 



330 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 

inir prisons. — Priestly, S. Bowen, J. N. Scott, J. Taylor, of 
England; Dr. Chauncey, George Storrs, <fcc. of America. 
The latter gentleman has recently published his faith on 
this subject in six sermons. He belhes that the souls of 
the wicked will all live until after the final judgment, and 
then they will be annihilated by a direct infliction of pun- 
ishment. 

The arguments on which they rely, are, that the destruc- 
tion threatened upon the finally impenitent can only be 
justly interpreted as teaching the annihilation of their souls ; 
that the term death as descriptive of the condition of the 
wicked in the future world, must include the extinction of 
their being, and not permit a continued existence with 
merely a deprivation of holiness and happiness ; that the 
figures used to denote the punishment of the wicked, such 
as everlasting and quenchless fire, signify the total extinc- 
tion of their being, as combustible materials are consumed 
by fire ; that the curse of God upon the sinner is compared 
to an undying worm, and held up in contrast with the right- 
eous entering eternal life, denoting a period of life and ex- 
istence, therefore the wicked must suffer the loss of their 
existence ; that the different degrees of punishment, result- 
ing from degrees of guilt, cannot be reconciled to the notion 
of never-ending punishment ; and that death and annihila- 
tion are properly styled everlasting destruction, a destruc- 
tion from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his 
power, as implying the unalterable and irrevocable nature 
of punishment. There may be other arguments, which 
are employed to support the doctrine of the annihilation of 
the souls of the wicked, but the above are sufficient to show 
the positions on which they mostly rely. We shall state 
a few counted arguments. 

1. It were necessary to prove that the children of men 
have lost their immortal existence by the commission of 



sin. forfeit their ho 

felicity quite another thing for them to for- 

feit their personal existence. The former * is lost, the 
moral inn from th« i soul, so thai tlu* 

saint became a sinner, the righteous became unright 
and instead of retaining spiritual life, they" became morally 

To be made a now, they m 

in rig : vi true holiness, Nowhere does the 

of immo nee, but onlj 

rnal well-being. Since the wicked do no1 forfeit their 

i. but only their happiness and the heavenly 

lore annihilation is not the certain result of sin. 

2. It must he proved that d( st ruction and its correspond- 
ing v ;i the Bible, mean necessarily annihila- 
tion. This point Destruetionists assume without proof. 

• ruction of any object is the same as the extinc- 
tion o\' its being, then their position is tenable, otherwise 
not. For God to annihilate a being, or the universe, it is 
only necessary for him to withdraw his power, (for he up- 
holds all things by the word of his power,) and not to ex- 
ercise that power by direct infliction. Instead of destroy- 
ing the wicked from his presence and the glory of his power 
in order to annihilate them, it would only require a with- 
drawal of his hand, and they woulJ sink into nonentity. 
Therefore, instead of the term destruction, warranting the 
annihilation of the wicked, it rather argues their continued 
nee as the objects of misery and wo by direct in- 
fliction. 

3. It must be proved that death, when referring to the 

annihilation; whereas the Scriptures 
i], the separation of the soul 
from Go J and heavenly joys. The Bible affords su 

term death wh of the fu- 

ture miseries of the incorrigible, as to preclude the idea that 



THE IMMORTALITY OF THE 

•they shnll cease to exist. The ath when inflicted 

upon the wicked, is explained to mean, that they are i 

into a lake ol* lire, as having their pari in the lake which 
burnetii with lire and. brimstone, with the beasl and false 
prophet, and shall he tormented day and night for ever and 
ever. (Rev. xx. 14. xxi. 8. xx. 10.) They shall he tut 

asunder and have their portion with hypocrites and un 
lievers, where there shall he weeping- and gnashing of teeth. 
(Matth. xxiv. 51.) These descriptions do not consist with 
the idea of an extinction of being ; but are rather corrobo- 
rative of a continued conscious misery. 

4. Since there will be degrees in punishment, instead of 
proving the doctrine of annihilation, it proves that the wick- 
ed shall endure conscious suffering ; in intensity it will 
admit of degrees, but not necessarily in duration. How 
can there be degrees in annihilation ? It is to the one, what 
it is to the other ; the same to the least sinner, what it is 
to the greatest. In fact, the outcast and profligate have the 
least to fear, for instead of adding weight and intensity to 
their misery, it is to them the greatest blessing and deliver- 
ance. In annihilation there can be no degrees, therefore if 
there be degrees in punishment, there must be suffering 
preceding. the event of annihilation; if so, then this pre- 
vious suffering must be looked upon as the due punishment 
for sin, and the event of annihilation as salvation from suf- 
fering. Thus the greatest sinner has the most to expect 
from an extinction of his being, as effecting a cessation from 
suffering. 

5. The punishment of the wicked will be the- same as 
the punishment of fallen angels, for hell w r as prepared for 
the devil and his angels. If the angels are not annihilated, 
neither will wicked men be. As spirits they are indestruc- 
tible, and no material substance can annihilate them. 

6. The happiness of the righteous does not consist in 



I HI I MM OK ! A I in 389 

e, hilt 111 thru 

e good ; so the damnation of the finally 
Impenitent will not consist in the extinction of their b 
hut in their deprivation of all good, and in becoming the 
victims ot* intolerable mis 

These reflections are sufficient to prove thai the doctrine 
which ass.rts the annihilation of the souls of the wicked, 

ptural. With 
on to notice, 

1. That /.'" doctrine of the immortality of the .sou! is 
both reasonable and Scriptural. 

What sound reason asserts, the Scriptures sanction, and 
what the Bible reason will acknowledge with pro- 

found reverence. In addition to what has already \)cen 
said in continuation of the immortality of the soul, we will 
iv state that, 

1. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul has been 
ed in all ages and by all nations. It is not asserted, 

that there have been none in any age and among any na- 
tion, who have not disputed and disbelieved the soul to be 
immortal ; but that it has been the doctrine of the world. 
The ancient philosophers and orators taught it — Plato, 
Socrates, Zoroaster, Cicero, &c. — The Chinese, the Japan- 
ese, the Persians, Scythians, the North Americans Indians, 
&c. 

2. The desire of immortality implanted in the soul. If 
this desire was given by God at the time when he created 
man, then it shows the design was that man should live 
forever. It does not preclude the possibility of the soul 
ceasing to be, but it proves the intention of God, except the 
Creator was guilty of tantalizing man with desires which 
could not possibly be gratified. 

3. It is evident from the construction of the intellectual 
powers of the mind, their adaptation for knowledge and 



3 40 THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOIL. 

improvement unto perfection, and the unlimited 
re throughout the material world for their gratification* 

4. It is evident from the fact that nun is capable of moral 
improvement, of the formation of a r which shall 
fit him for the society of pure spirits and the worship of 
his God. 

5. It is evident from the fact that the soul of man is a 
spirit, and its annihilation, therefore, unreasonable and ab- 
surd. If the material world around us, while undergoing 
various changes, does not suffer the annihilation of any of 
its particles, how much less probable is it, that the uncom- 
pounded, immaterial principle in man, which links him with 
the eternal world, and exalts him as the crowning glory of 
creation, should sink finally into utter nothingness. The 
soul cannot decay, nor be decomposed or annihilated ; for 
it is a simple, spiritual substance, and has the principle of 
immortality as the basis of its being. God alone can ex- 
tinguish it; but he has- no where intimated that he has done 
it, or that he ever will do it. 

6. The Scriptures confirm the doctrine of the immortal- 
ity of the soul. We need quote but few passages ; for every- 
where intimations and direct principles may be found for- 
tifying the doctrine. The Psalmist says, ■« My flesh and 
my heart shall fail ; but God is the strength of my heart 
and my portion forever ." If the soul ceases to be, what 
does the Psalmist mean ? But if immortal, his meaning is 
clear. "Jesus Christ * * * hath brought life and immor- 
tality to light through the gospel." (1 Tim. i. 10.) If the 
soul is mortal, why this revelation? " So shall we be ever 
with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) "And I give unto 
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall 
any man pluck them out of my hands. (John x. 28.) " And 
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the 
righteous in to life eternal." (Matth. xxv. 46,) "Seek 



I ml DON ; ii i. SOUL. Ml 

tnd honor, and imm 

ii. 7.) We m i .! doI add any m 

inviting the reader, to lo< 
and understanding^ at the subject. Ho* >mpre- 

1 all-important is ii ! The line oi on i 

stretches out into the distant, dim and interminable future. 
We b l to live, and v. he summit 

which is overlooking the eternal world — upon its scenes 
we must soon enter, and upon its unlimited area we must 
shortly fare we prepared for that world; its ?< 

and itfl a journey ; its condition, either of blissful 

fruition or of insuth rable wo ? Examine your heart and 
scrutinize jrour life in the light of truth and rectitude. A 
aC, or delusion here is fatal, is remediless. Try your 
hope, your character and your claim to glory; build on 
st, on his atonement, on truth; for fear the eternal 
surges shall drive your bark down the tremendous and re- 
turnless cataract of irretrievable wo. Your work and cha- 
racter in this life, will fix the destiny of your undying soul 
in the spirit-world. While it is day, work, repent and be- 
lieve — submit to God and be saved. 



C H A PTER X . 

THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION FOR THE RETRIBUTIONS 
OF ETERNITY. 

" Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to 
err from the words of knowledge." Prov. xix. 27. 

In view of the fact, that man is an immortal being, des- 
tined to a continued existence through the revolutions of 
time and to all eternity, it has been generally believed, that 
he is in a state of probation here for the retributions of a 
hereafter — that his moral behavior and life here, will mould 
the character of his future destiny — and that every action 
voluntarily performed will vibrate a chord of his eternal 
weal or wo, as the case may be. But this religious faith 
and element in the moral government of God, are exploded 
and discarded by the great body of Universalis. Perhaps, 
in no opinion is there greater harmony among Universalists, 
than there is in teaching and defending the dogma, that 
man's present conduct will not affect his future state of ex- 
istence, unless it be the doctrine of the final holiness and 
happiness of the entire human race. How remote this 
view is from downright scepticism, we leave for the candid 
reader to decide. 

So obvious and general is the disavowal of the doctrine, 
that this life is a state of probation for the retributions of 
eternity, among Universalists, that it would seem needless 
to quote their language to confirm the position, were it not 
in accordance with our plan, to prove what Universalis!!! is 
from their own writings. Indeed, they are pushed to this 



ruifl LIFJ I tAl I "i PROS LTIONi i «i * : * 

alternative by iheir denial of future punishment [fman is 
not affected in his future existence bj tin- rices and virtues 
of the present life, then there can be no propriety or a< 

>r future punishment. The one is vitally connected 
with thf other. It' this life is probationary for another 

tistence, then there is need of a resurrection, a general 
judgment, and of rewards and punishments. 

We begin by quoting the language oi Jason Lewis, in a 
pamphlet entitled, Universalis! Belief. He says, M Al- 
though salvation in this world is, in some sort, conditional, 
that is to say, is enjoyed only by means of faith, good 
LS, etc. yet that salvation in a state of immortality, is 
means .suspended upon any exercises or acts of the 
while in this state of being.'" " As the salvation 
of the future world is wholly 'the gift of God;' therefore 
the object of pure religion, as possessed and practised in 
this life, is not to purchase, or secure the blessings of an* 
hereafter state of being, but to benefit mankind here, by 
rendering them better and happier.''' The views of this 
champion of Universalism in reference to the influence of 
man's conduct and character on his future destiny, is, that 
they do not affect him in the least. Even the religion of 
Christ, however pure and holy, will not secure and entitle 
the soul to happiness and salvation in heaven. Eternal life 
will be the gift of God irrespective of what man does, his 
character, or of any thing which may transpire on earth. 
Thus we have a bold denial of the doctrine, that the 
children of men are in a state of probation for eternity. 

A. C. Thomas says, in the Lowell Discussion, "If you 
mean by this, that faith is essential to the special salvation 
of the believer, you speak truly ; but if you mean, that faith 
in this world is essential to the holiness and happiness of 
the immortal state, you beg the whole question." If faith 
m be? It is evident, that Mr. 
1 - 



31 i THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

Thomas believes, that faith, christian graces, and morality 
are only essential for man's happiness in this world, and 
Ttfill not affect his condition in the immortal state. This 
life is no probation for the future world. 

S. B. Brittan, in a published sermon, delivered at Bridge- 
port, Conn., holds the following language, "The glory and 
happiness of the future no more depend upon the faith and 
works of the creature, than the resurrection itself. The 
resurrection is not to be jaccomplished through our merits', 
but through the power of God. And if faith and works 
cannot raise the dead, how can these be supposed to de- 
termine our condition in the world to come ?" " Indeed, 
there is no more evidence that wicked men will sustain the 
same character in the resurrection-state, than that they will 
sustain the same bodies." The above advocate of Univer- 
salism is entitled to the character of a consummate logician, 
and the world should fear lest wisdom becomes extinct 
when he dies. Because the faith and good "works of man 
are incompetent to raise the dead, -therefore the actions and 
deportment of men in this life, can never determine- their 
condition in the world to come. What connection is there 
between the resurrection of.^the dead, and -the 'condition of 
man in the spirit-world, from which it would follow that if 
actions here cannot raise the dead, they cannot affect the 
destiny of men hereafter? The one may be true, yet it 
does not follow, as a matter of course, that the other must 
be so. We believe that our character here will affect the 
character of our resurrection, whether unto life or unto 
condemnation ; and also, that our deportment here will fix 
our destiny in the future world. But this latter point, the 
writer unequivocally denies- — he does not believe that man 
shall sustain the same • character in the resurrection-state, 
that he formed in this life. Consequently it must either be 
changed by death, or else he leaves it behind at death, be- 



<■; i hi. R] I RIB1 I lONfl 0] i n i;m I .'* I •> 

cause it wai to be transferred into the future — 

this life being no probation lor the retributioi rnity. 

Mr. Ballou says, u It appears thai mm 9 * final destiny 
not depend on /nan, but on God who made him. 
A.mong the numerous errors, which have, by men, been im- 
bibed, none have hem greater than the supposition, that 
revealed religion was designed, by the Creator, for the pmr- 

immortality beyond our 
i a supposition conflicts 
with tl a immortality was embraced in the 

purpose o( God originally. And the opinion, that th< 

Millions, or enjoyments in a future, immortal state, 
her on what men believe or do in this life, is an 
on which sets aside any original purpose, will, or de- 
mon of the Creator, respecting these weighty mat- 
Mr. Le Fevre says, " He does not believe that we are 
probationers here for eternity. Our good conduct here is 
not our passport to heaven and immortality hereafter ; 
neither will our bad conduct here, cause us to be raised up 
immortal sinners and immortal sufferers. " 

Mr. Whittemore, D. D. Smith, O. A. Skinner, Mr. Fer- 
nald, Williamson and others reiterate the same sentiments. 
r as w r e have perused the opinions of Universalists, 
who deny future punishment, they all agree in rejecting the 
doctrine that man is a probationer here, for another state of 
existence. Elsewhere we have given numerous quotations 
from their writings confirmatory of this dogma. So ob- 
vious is their denial, that it is deemed one of their principal 
positions. To admit that the conduct of men in this life 
will determine their future condition, would overwhelm 
their system with confusion and despair. How could they 
reconcile, in that event, the reward of final holiness and 
happiness, as indiscriminately bestowed upon the entire 



THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

human race — the saint and sinner, the virtuous and profli- 
all faring alike? But strip all the rational world of 
their character, doings and inlluence, secured in this life, 
and they will lose all merit or demerit, and stand upon a 
common level, about to commence a new existence. How- 
ever derogatory to analogy, reason and Scripture, this posi- 
tion is, yet it is essential in order to maintain modern Uni- 
versalism. 

We believe, that we have given a true statement of what 
Universalism is, relative to a state of probation and retribu- 
tion ; we shall therefore proceed to investigate the truth of 
the case. 

By a state of probation for future retribution, we under- 
stand, that mankind is placed in a state of trial under the 
moral government of God, a government of motives and per- 
suasions ; and that all are called upon to live by such rules, 
and form for themselves such characters, as shall secure the 
approbation and praise of God, and the reward of happiness 
at his tribunal, and escape the reprobation and punishment 
due to apostates and rebels, in the future world of retribu- 
tion. This state of probation involves promises, commands 
and obligations to virtue, obedience and piety, on the one 
hand ; and on the other, threatenings, prohibitions and ex- 
posure to temptation, to try the virtuous principle in men, 
to discipline them for the conflicts of life, and form a char- 
acter which shall qualify them for a higher sphere of ex- 
istence. In the most emphatic sense, the good character, 
or the bad character, formed in this state of trial, will inevi- 
tably and certainly, mould and fix the destiny of all proba- 
tioners, either in happiness or in misery. This appears 
clear to us, and if we can prove it, we shall subvert one of 
the main pillars in the temple of modern Universalism. 
Then to the task. It is evivent from the fact, 

1. That ive are, as God's rational creatures, placed 
under hi3 government in this state of existence. 



I ok 1111: RETRIB1 I ION! 01 i l I i:\it\ . A 17 

The government of God, as d over 1 1 1 < * rational 

world, is both natural and moral; the former ii 

ii life, imposing natural duties, and resulting 
in temporal consequences, while die Latter ie 1 over 

- rational and accountable creatures, subject, to the 

scrutiny and decision of God, in regard to our state and 

Condition in the future world. The duties imposed upon 

us in this life, affecting our temporal happiness and worldly 

circumstances, no more certainly and iuvariahlv imhitter OUT 
B, frustrate our hopes, and secure 4 inflictions of pain 
and misery, when we prove recreant to those duties and 
substitute vicious practices; than incvitahle misery and wo 
will he the cup and portion of all those who rebel against 
the requirements of God, and form a corrupt and vicious 
character under his moral government. So evident is it to 
all who are ohscrvers of men and things, that argument is 
needless to prove, that the children of men are in a state of 
trial for this world, and if this state of natural probation is 
not wisely and judiciously improved, the dangers avoided, 
and the temptations to idleness and vice repelled, that se- 
vere temporal consequences will result. There are dan- 
gers and difficulties in the way of securing the grand end 
of our being even in this world, but if the difficulties which 
we meet to-day, are overcome, we shall be the better pre- 
pared for the conflicts of to-morrows and the more easily 
triumph. We must brave and foil all hostile forces and 
circumstances, and pursue a correct and uniform course of 
lite, then we shall answer our destiny in this world. This 
is our natural probation under the natural laws of God. 
The notion of a state of trial is so common and of such 
general application, that it is interwoven in all the common 
affairs of life. The apprentice enters upon a state of trial 
to his employer — the physician to the district of his prac- 
tice — the attorney to the surrounding community — the po- 



348 THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

litieal aspirant to his constituents — and the preacher of the 
gospel to the church of God. 

As much superior as is man's moral state to his natural ; 
as much greater and more significant as is man's moral char- 
acter, influence and value of his soul to his natural being; and 
in the same proportion as eternity is more awful and glo- 
rious than time ; so much more is man's state of moral pro- 
bation under God's moral government, of the utmost signifi- 
cance and importance. It is more probable, that man would 
not be placed in a state of trial for this world, than that he 
should not receive a state of probation under the moral gov- 
ernment of God. But the first being undeniable ; reason 
and analogy would confirm the second. If the young, 
while starting the journey of life, run a great risk of sub- 
sequent well-doing, and a small miscalculation and error 
may overwhelm them in sorrow and ruin ; and if the re- 
formed inebriate is in imminent danger, while exposed to 
temptations to indulge in his former habits, of failing to se- 
cure a permanent state of virtue and sobriety ; how much 
greater is the danger with respect to all those who are form- 
ing a character and pursuing a line of conduct for eternity 
under the moral government of God, that they shall fail of 
their glorious destiny; seeing, that they are surrounded with 
the pride of life, strong temptations, mighty difficulties and 
perplexities, joined to a corrupt and fallen nature within ! 
Yet the moral laws of God are wisely and completely adap- 
ted to render man's state of trial for eternity, what it should 
be. There is no indulgence, no sin, and no carnal attach- 
ment, but what is strictly prohibited — against every lurking 
temptation, every path of error and precipice of ruin, the 
law utters its warning voice — and every virtue, every deed 
of justice, and every christian grace is required. 

Many of the ills we suffer in this life, are the results of 
the violation of the natural laws of God, and of misimprov- 



i 111. RETRIBUTIONS OF i.ti:i:mtv. 349 

ing the state of probation for this world. However, pain 
ami afRiction to ill-doing, or pleasure and satiafaciton to 
well-doing, are apt more certain and invariable in tins life, 

than moral results, cither painful <n* pleasing, approved or 
condemned of God, are under the moral government in the 

future world. So analogy teaches, and reason does not as- 
sume the province to censure the doctrine, which connects 
intimately and in a controlling manner, the present with the 
future life. If it does, let the infidel prove it. 

2. //"< are placed in a proper moral discipline under 
wernmentof God. 

All men are placed in a state of probation in this life, af- 
fording scope for discipline and moral improvement, in or- 
der to qualify them for the retributions of eternity, and to 
r the sphere of activity and influence, as designed in 
(hat world. A state of probation is a state of trial, wherein 
are arrayed proper inducements to virtue and moral expan- 
sion of character, on the one hand ; while on the other, there 
are temptations to an opposite course, danger of failing to 
acquire solid morals, habits of rectitude, and substantial hap- 
piness — to say, that man might have been placed in a state 
of existence here to have answered all the purposes of use-, 
fulness, of improvement and of happiness, without such a 
fearful exposure to temptation, evil and shipwreck, would 
virtually impeach the wisdom,goodness and rectitude of God. 
All the elements in human character, in order to be praise- 
worthy,, must be the product of voluntary actions. Any 
thiiiL r of mere necessity cannot be meritorious of praise 
and commendation. Therefore man, to work out a char- 
approved of God and fitting him for the employments 
of earth and heaven, is placed in a state of probation, 
1 upon to freely and 

voluntarily, to try his powers, his principles, his alle- 
giance to God, and above all to contract habits of virtue, ve- 



TU1 I STATF OF PROBATION 

ion to troth and right, and to establish his char- 
acter permanently upon such principles, as shall constitute 
him worthy to move in the future world, and to answer 
fully the great purpose of God. Man is a free agent, and 
his Creator has placed in his hands, means adequate and 
adapted to a certain end ; but that, that end may be obtain- 
ed, those means wisely adjusted must be faithfully employ- 
ed ; and since there are dangers and temptations, it will not 
do to neglect those means altogether, or only employ them 
partially, or in a perverted manner ; therefore the necessity 
of care, discrimination, fidelity and promptitude in employ- 
ing them ; hence, we discover, man's state of trial and dis- 
cipline. A state of trial is requisite to the operations of 
discipline, and the latter are indispensably important for 
improvement. All improvement is based upon habits, and 
habits of virtue are only secured by a repetition of right 
actions, and these again are produced by the operation of 
the mental and moral powers of mind controlled, by a will 
free to choose, to accept, or reject. Thus man was made 
a free agent, is put under trial and discipline in a world 
where good and evil, vice and virtue are exercising their 
legitimate influences, to try his strength, to render him cau- 
tious in his choice, inflexible in his decision, and discrimi- 
nating in his judgment, so that habits of virtue may be 
formed and nourished, schooled amid the blasts and storms 
of time, and which shall withstand the ruder foes of god- 
liness, and plant man's moral character on a basis strong, 
mighty and immovable. 

To prove that man is in a state of moral discipline here, 
it is not necessary that we should explain in every particu- 
lar, why he is exposed to so severe and to so many dan- 
gers; why his state is exactly as it is, for much of this lies 
beyond the boundary of human scrutiny; nor is it essential 
in order to be convinced of the fact, that this is a state of 



l oh iii 1: RI i Kir.i riON I 01 B1 BRW1TV , .*•> J 

lion. Thai this world is a state of probation ami dis- 
cipline lor tip 4 children of men is provable by ol 
tiii analogy and Scripture. Man it 

lo improve bj experience, to acquire knowled 
develope all the powers of mind, and form habits ; all this 

r to the eye of obsen ation and reason, an 

: presumptive proof, thai he was endowed with these 
capacities to adapl him to a state ol" trial. There needs a 

constant development of our nature and powers, to qualify 
ns lor ihf bc< ties of life, to lit us for subsequent activity, 

duties and callings. From childhood to manhood, and to 
old age, new circumstances surround us, and untried muni- 
hurst to view, to meet which, and answer their 
demand, there is need ol' contain development and improve- 
of man. All this is obvious to every impartial obser- 
id conclusively proves the state of trial, discipline and 
improvement, in which the human family is placed. There 
is a regular gradation through life, improved capacities qual- 
ify for additional improvement, and adapt to a higher state 
of existence. Since this is the case through life, reason 
and analogy would teach, next to moral certainty, that this 
life is probationary for the future world. If one day pre- 
fer the next, one period for the subsequent, one dis- 
pensation for its successor; then we may infer, that one state 
tee is but preparatory to the next, and this world 
for the boundless displays of eternity. 

it the children of men are in a suitable state of trial, 
from the facts, that heaven is a state of improved 
y, and that our state here and our capacities 
are ad habits of virtue and prac- 

tical : ble of pro- 

ducing a - for eternity. If things were 

of producing virtue and piety, the situa- 
tion of men, w \ and scrupulously improved, 



352 THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

would have a natural tendency to destroy or prevent the 
formation of a character fitted for heaven, then we should 
have a grand difficulty to surmount to prove this life a state 
of probation ; but as it is, the laboring oar is put into the 
hand of the deniers of the doctrine. Just as certain as 
design, adaptation and adequate means and capacities prove 
a known and contemplated end ; so true it is, that God has 
placed man in a probation-state for the retributions of 
eternity. 

3. Reason and analogy do not deny that there exists a 
close and controlling connection between the agency and 
life of man,' and his future destiny — or that this life is a 
state of probation for the retributions of eternity. As man 
lives here, so he will live in the future world — the character 
he forms here, he will carry with him into the future, and 
by it, he will fix his destiny. The resurrection will raise 
us up with the same character with which we left this 
world, and present us before God for his approval or con- 
demnation. There is an intimate and indissoluble connec- 
tion between actions and character in this life, and the state 
of existence in the future world — a strong link joins to- 
gether the two existences which neither death can break, 
nor will it be severed by the sword of justice unsheathed 
by the strong arm of God. 

Youth is joined to manhood, and as the privileges of 
youth are improved, character developed and formed, sound 
principles imbibed and allowed to govern, so will manhood 
reap the abundant fruit. And as middle age is improved, 
cultivated and well directed, so will old age gather up the 
results of a well-spent life. This is not only the case when 
life is well guarded and cultivated ; but the same uniform 
laws govern the vicious in scattering the seeds of iniquity, 
and in reaping the fruits of corruption and death. As a 
man soweth so shall he also reap, is the immutable law of 



roi THE 353 

. and are ><> whenever Hi. i 
either obeyed or tra y thai th< ■ 

[Ually true and certain in moral matters, and will not 

be witnessed in transcending tin 1 scenes of tunc, -and <>; 
ing with c i qually unavoidable, in en rnal agi 

In this life we witness many and striking analogous circum- 
\ man pursues a culpable course of life, ho is 

guilty of atrocious wickedness, he attempts to escnpe the 
consequences of a criminal life and the smarting strokes of 
an injured conscience, he leaves home and his country, he 
- the mountains, lie navigates lakes and seas, and plants 
I the opposite soil of the globe. Has he fled from 
his crimes, have the pure breezes of the towering hills 
swept away guilt, have lakes and oceans with their yawn- 
lUows overwhelmed his sins and released him from 
condemnation, or have changing climates renovated his 
character and pressed innocency upon his heart ? The 
character formed he still retains, it is wedded to his soul 
with living cords, and is interwoven throughout his entire 
being, and its roots are planted in the depths of his heart. 
There is no magic in hills or dales, time or space, lakes or 
briny deep, the frigid or torrid zones, moving winds or balmy 
climes, to change crime, or separate the state of proba- 
tion from its proper retributions. If time or space cannot 
do this, what ground have we to surmise that a journey 
I world into the future, will release mankind from 

Is there any semblance of 
Son ! Do< a ndl the voice of universal nature declare, 
a denial of the doctrine of retribution, is based upon the 
lame c of a doubting and unbelieving heart. 

A m hi perpetrates gross crime and Btains his soul with 

aes upon his couch for repose, and in 

f blunted perceptions, a conscience, 



351 THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

and obdurate heart, he forgets his deeds of darkness and 
sleeps until the dawning morning, he arises to pursue the 
avocations of life and plunges into distracting business, has, 
therefore, sleep the talismanic power to change the charac- 
ter, or to prevent the criminality of his deeds on the former 
day from accompanying him upon the subsequent day ? 
Sleep locks up the senses, restrains activity and is the very 
semblance of death, and yet who will assert that crime and 
character cannot transcend a night's or a year's repose ? — if 
such a thing were possible. What greater power, to change 
the mind or character, or blast the moral seed of a subse- 
quent moral harvest, has death than what sleep possesses 
or exerts ? There is no Scripture or analogous ' reason for 
such a supposition. Since deeds performed to-day, may 
spring up to-morrow, next week, or year, and yield their 
proper fruit, notwithstanding sleep has, time and again, 
reigned in solemn silence and in undisturbed repose over its 
victims ; so likewise the actions performed and character 
acquired will yield their proper fruit, and stand in living re- 
ality beyond the grave. There is no power in circumstan- 
ces, climate, change of situation, affliction, sickness, or 
death, or a combination of all the ills of life, to remit sin, 
bleach crime, transform character from guilt to innocency 
or to separate the deeds of time from their effects in eter- 
nity. All we do here will scale life, death and the revolu- 
tions of eternity. This life which is a state of probation, 
will, therefore, be followed by a state of retribution. Here 
is the seed time but beyond death is the harvest-season — 
and as we sow here so shall we reap there. This is the 
arrangement of tlu Almighty, and He is not to be mocked, 
or his laws evaded by trifling objections, by the cunning 
and cavils of men. 

If good actions and a moral character will affect us to- 
morrow, next year, or beyond the bounds of time, render 



l 01 i in: i:i i R1B1 i io\ | OJ BTKRNJ 1 1 . 

.1, exquisitely and endlessly happy ; then why 
will not ill-doing have a contrar) effect upon the destiny 
and future existence of the wicked? We must either take 
the stand of Universalists, and deny thai anj actions good 
or bad, religious devotion and piety or downright wicked- 
ness, nor tin- work and atonement of Christ, will have any 
influence upon the character of our existence in the future 
world, but all shall begin eternity upon "a common level," 
irrespective o( the past; or else we must believe with the 
orthodox, that for all wc do here, we must give an account 
in the future, and that as we have sown here, either good 
or bad. we shall reap hereafter. The wicked and the right- 
eous shall be as distinct in character, state of existence and 
enjoyment in the spirit-world, as they have been in this 
of trial. 

4. The Scriptures amply prove and fortify the doctrine 
of mans probation here and retribution hereafter. 

However forcible and conclusive our arguments may hi* 
as drawn from reason and nature, yet after all, the word of 
the Lord will constitute the ultimate court of appeal, to all 
who rest their salvation on Christ and the testimony of his 
mouth. So emphatic are the Scriptures relative to the 
character and future destiny of man, that In order to escape 
the weight of many passages, Universalists have denied 
their application to the spirit- world, and assert that they 
only refer to the affairs of this life. On their part this 
should be proven and not asserted, that all passages which 
speak of doing and living so as to be worth}- of reward, are 
applicable only to this life. Furthermore, they should an- 
nihilate the force of all analogous teaching, and show the 
utter impossibility of future rewards, as a consequence of 
nt well-doing. But the sentiment is so interwoven 
with all the common affairs Of life, that Ihe candid mind 
will assent to it in defiance of all their equivocation. The 



350 THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

Scriptures seem no less decisive and strong in affirming that 
future rewards and punishments are appended to the beha- 
vior and deeds of this life. 

We read in 2. Cor. iv. 17. " For our light affliction, 
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." Here we are taught 
that the afflictions incident to this life, shall exert such an 
influence on some, as to augment their glory and increase 
their happiness in the future life, compared with what it 
would have been in the absence of these light afflictions. 
The glory will not only exceed what it would be for the 
want of affliction, but it will also be eternal in durability. 
The light afflictions are instrumental in augmenting glory 
and happiness as the portion of such who are tried thereby. 
Here we have a cause existing in time which will influence 
the condition of saints in the eternal heavens ; for the glory 
must necessarily be the reward of heaven, being eternal, 
being not seen, and to be enjoyed after the sorrows and 
tears of this life shall have passed away. This passage, 
then, teaches future and eternal retribution as connected 
with this life. 

2 Cor. v. 9, 10. " Wherefore we labor, that, whether 
present or absent, we may be accepted of him ; for we 
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, &c." 
In this chapter,Paul is speaking of death and immortality — 
of being present with the body while living in this world, 
and of being absent from the body when removed into the 
eternal state of existence. Now, in the verse quoted we 
are taught that our acceptance or rejection by the Lord will, 
not only in this world, but also in the next, while absent 
from the body and present with the Lord, mainly depend 
on the manner of laboring and acting. This passage, there- 
fore, inculcates the same doctrine. 

John vi. 27. "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, 



RE ikiiu i [ONfl <M ill UNITY. 9n 

but for thai meat which endurelh ui ~iinL r life, 

which the Son of man shall give anto you." This p 

ts, that there is an intimate connection between the 
work to be performed and the reward promised, the latter 
is dependent on the former bo far as attainment is concern- 
ed. It seems evident that the blessing, 6? meat which en- 
dureth unto eternal life, is the n ward of heaven and future 
glory. The nuat or blessings which perish are put in 
contrast with those which do not perish. The one refers 
to the good things of this life, and the other to the blessings 
of the world to come ; but both are m the same sense de- 
pendent on right and diligent labor. If heaven were not 
dependent on a proper and religious life, but a mere gift 
irrespective of conduct, the exhortation and command of the 
text would appear irrelevant and tantalizing; but such is 
not the manner of the divine dealings with the children of 
men. 

Rom. xiv. 12. "So then every one of us shall give ac- 
count of himself to God." This text teaches that the chil- 
dren of men are accountable to God for the improvement 
of present privileges and for every neglect of duty. The 
time when we shall give account of our stewardship is 
placed in the future, and therefore annihilating to the system 
that the judgment is in operation now and runs parallel 
with time. We are now acting and forming a character in 
this probation-state, for which we shall give account to 
i, the Judge of the whole earth. 

Dan. xii. 2, 'A. "And many of them that sleep in the 
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that 
as the brightness of the firmament ; and 
•hat turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever 
and ever." 'i rs to the literal re- 

surrection of the dead, and di he condition of man- 



358 THIS LIFE A STATE OF PROBATION 

kind in a subsequent state of existence. Those who have 
been wicked, and defied the authority of God, shall feel 
keenly the influence and withering effects of iniquity, while 
their heart and face shall be mantled with confusion and 
shame, which they could not escape by death, and the dusty 
cloisters of the pale inhabitants of the grave. But all who 
have lived and done righteous deeds, and been instrumental 
in turning many to the Lord, shall be clothed upon with the 
shining drapery of holiness and heavenly spendor, and bask 
endlessly in the sunlight of unsullied glory. This their por- 
tion of solid delight and immaculate rest beyond the torpid 
grave and stirring resurrection, shall be dependent upon a 
life of righteousness and deeds of Christlike benevolence. 

Matth. xix. 16, 17. "And behold, one came, and said 
unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I 
may have eternal life ? And he said unto him. Why callest 
thou me good ? there is none good but one, that is God : 
but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." 
The portion of eternal life is inherited by keeping the com- 
mandments — it is dependent upon obedience to God. To 
say that the blessing of eternal life is enjoyed in this world, 
cannot neutralize the application of the text to the retribu- 
tions of eternity ; for if the life of grace can be enjoyed on 
earth, it is not possible to realize it in its eternal duration 
in time. Although the gracious life by faith commences in 
the soul here, yet heaven is the proper place for its full 
realization. This being the case, Christ directly declares 
that the reward of future happiness will be granted to such 
as shall do the will of God in a state of probation. 

John xii. 25. " He that loveth his life, shall lose it ; and 
he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life 
eternal." The import of this passage is, that whoever 
shall esteem his life more than the christian religion, is not 
worthy to be called a disciple, and is unprepared to receive 



i OH i in: RBI RIB1 I IONS "I i TERNIT1 ■ 

the glory of heaven and mingle with the celestial throng; 
but whosoever shall deny himself of all, and supremelj love 
(.'oil ami religion, at the risk i)[ falling :i martyr to the 
pel, he shall inherit eternal life. 'Hie 1' in of bliss 

ami holiness in heaven is suspended upon the esthni 
religion, ami the acceptance or rejection of the same. The 
conduct of man in this world will affect ami control his 
situation beyond the grai e. 

1 Tim. i\ . 8, " For bodily exercise profiteth little: but 
godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the 
life that now is, and of that which is to come." By godli- 
ness the Scriptures mean devotion to God, and a moral con- 
formity of life to the divine will. Pure and undefiled reli- 
gion lias promise of the blessings of this world, and at the 
same time, it takes hold of the imperishable glories of the 
world beyond death and the grave. This passage is so 
clear and decisive that without any comment, every reader 
must be convinced, that the character of our future existence 
will be determined by our present mode of life — this pro- 
bationary state will secure legitimate retributions. 

2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. " I have fought a good fight, I have fin- 
ished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : and not to 
me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 
The Apostle was deeply impressed, that the " crown of 
righteousness" for himself and for all the lovers of God, 
was to be awarded with respect to their fidelity, and com- 
pleting the christian race and warfare, and that too, after 
they had finished their course with joy, and passed into the 
spirit-land of rest. Here is indubitable evidence that the 
deeds of this life will control the future destiny of men. 

James i. 12. "Blessed is the man that endureth tempta- 
tion : for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of 



860 J'HIS L1FK A STATE OF PROBATION 

life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." 
The crown of life is promised to those who love God and 
reverence his name, and its fulfilment they shall realize 
when they shall have surmounted and conquered the tempt- 
ations of ih'is world, and come out of the furnace as pure 
as o-old is when tried- They shall realize the promise of a 
living crown of fSJoicihg, oil condition, that they shall endure 
temptation. Thus, we are taught in the oracles of God, that 
our blessedness in heaven, is affected and determind by our 
earthly conduct. This establishes the doctrine of the state 
of probation and retribution. 

Rev. ii. 10. "Fear none of those things which thoil shalt 
suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, 
that ye maybe tried: and ye shall have tribulation ten 
days : be thou faithful until death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life. " The crown of life is promised and will be 
awarded subsequent to death, upon condition of fidelity 
unto the end of life. Great should be the trial of the saints, 
fears and dangers should beset them on either hand, fetters 
should corrode their limbs, and dungeon- walls inclose their 
emaciated bodies ; yet whoever should prove true to his 
God, and count all the severities of life as worthless in 
comparison with the intrinsic value of religion, would finally 
reap the reward of glory. From the dark prison they 
should mount the upper skies, from their shackles they 
should leap and walk the pavements of paradise, and the 
cup of sorrow should exchange for the chalice of the waters 
of life. Though for a season, they passed through seas of 
tribulation; yet, redeemed by the blood of Christ, they 
shall in heaven be clothed with spotless purity, and drive 
all their wants far away. 

Many are the passages of like import, which set the 
broad seal of divine authority and approbation to the doc- 
^ n fi of man'fi probation-state, for the retributions of eternity. 



mi- RBTRHH i L0K8 1" ' ' ' l:NI ' l ■ :U){ 

The cavil) and cunning devices of men are futile, ■ .," "^ch 
tyi**vor to evade the lore- and power of the doctrine; 

which holds men accountable under the moral government 
il, and probationers for eternal rewards. Just ai 

tain as men form for themselves characters iii this life, they 

must pass the ordeal of the judgment, and meets its deci- 
sions and rewards. On the hroad field of this lite we 
Scatter the seed of character and future destiny, neither 
lapse of time, calamity, death, nor the cold damps and 
darkness of the irrave and charnel-house, shall blast the 
ripening crop. Every seed shall have vegetated and brought 
to full maturity its quantum of fruit. Every word, deed, 
magnanimous action, or contemptible conduct, every wide- 
spreading influence shall be gathered up, justly measured, 
and equitably rewarded. No evasion, visor mask, petty 
excuses and special pleading shall avail to change charac- 
ter, or mitigate the eternal rectitude of the proceedings of 
the Great Day of Retribution. Who shall adopt the prin- 
ciples of righteousness and sternly adhere to their teaching, 
if guilty and fallen man should not ? Who should be gov- 
erned by godly fear, truth, and religion, and lay up a trea- 
sure in heaven against the day to come, if needy and de- 
pendent man should not ? O, that men were wise and 
would consider their latter end ! That they would prepare 
by the efficacious influence of grace, to meet and receive the 
retributions of the coming world, and join their anthem of 
exulting praise with the cheering songs of the heavenly 
v ^sts, during the annals of eternity ! 



CHAPTER XI 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



i 

dr. 
f. 

fc 



n 



u But some will say, How are the dead raised up ? an 
with what body do they come?" 1 Cor. xv. 35. 

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is not quil n 
so unreasonable, and in stern conflict with the analogy ( 
nature, as sceptical men have repeatedly asserted. That 
is, however, a subject of profound depth and of awful mag 
nitude, every student of theology and nature, must acquiesc 
in and acknowledge. The difficulties attending the doctrin 
of the resurrection of the dead, in its proofs and objections 
the process and the power of effecting it, and the awfi 
consequences resulting from the same, have had conflictin n< 
influences upon the minds of men, and have had a tendene 
to startle the profligate, and drive them to oppose the doi 
trine with all manner of sceptical prevarications. Willing! i' 
ly would many believe, that no such event will ever occui 1 ^ 
and raise the captious inquiry, "how are the dead rais 
up? and with what body do they come ?" 

In this section of our investigation, it will not constitul 
our main object, to prove the reality of the resurrection, 
a resurrection is allowed and professed by Universalist 
but it will be requisite to inquire, whether their views 
the resurrection of the dead are Scriptural, and g&fe to bt : 
believed. The doctrine itself is of luomentous importancf 
and has a powerful inHuence upon the formation of thl 
Christie's character and his hopes of heaven; and a mis- 1 
take, gross and perverting, may prove fatal and result ii 



I m. kim kki « i ION 01 i in D] \n. 363 

g ill-consequences. It constitutes one of the main 

illars of Christianity ; prove this false, and \ ou bw< 

tli the besom of destruction all the antecedent doctrines 

gion, and render void all the means of grace, and in- 

flfectual, the faith and hope of christians. The dark manlle 

f infidelity will inclose (he human family and the dismal 

^prehensions of annihilation, in defiance of truth, will 

aunt the souls of men. 

i The theme of the resurrection of the dead, is not unfre- 

lentlv announced from the pulpit, and at funerals, in pomp- 

j le and verbose language, by the preachers of Univer- 

(dism. It apparently is considered by them, the alpha and 

i, o( their hope and assurance of the final holiness and 

of the human race. When all other things shall 

tftal of reconciling to God the rational world; the death of 

r . the preaching of the gospel, the force of truth, the 

dons of virtue, and the dismal influence of vice; then 

.ij.all the Omnipotent influence of the resurrection quicken, 

. emancipate and adequately adorn the children of 

c^n to walk forth in the resplendent morning of endless 

K.y, and roam eternally the plains of Paradise, enjoying its 

ic visions. The resurrection possesses the magic 

r lwer and transforming efficacy, in the opinion of Univer- 

; lists, to redeem all mankind and constitute them the sons 

God and heirs of eternal life. It comprises the all-suffi- 

jtQ *nt energy and efficacy to clothe the rational world in the 

f luty and holiness of immortality. 

■ ;m However, the uniformity of opinion in the fact, and pow- 
| and efficiency of the resurrection, relates more to the 
ity of the doctrine than to their exegetical views. As 
n as they speak of the time when the resurrection shall 
Le place ; the hodies which shall he raised, and the 
nge it will effect in the entire man, on soul, or body, or 
both, they are either unsettled in opinion, or deem these 



364 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

points of minor importance, or they conflict with each 
other. The resurrection as such, thiiversalists declaim and 
glorify, and assure the community that all shall equally be 
partakers of it, and that it will be the ordeal of purification 
and ceaseless felicity; but upon the elemental principles 
they wish not to dwell. Indeed, there seems to be a ten- 
dency among them to deny the literal resurrection of the 
dead, and that there will be an identity of the human body ; 
they are rather inclined to affirm that the resurrection will 
be a spiritual affair, a resuscitation of the souls which were 
rocked in unconscious sleep during the intermediate state. 
The body which died and was imprisoned in the grave or 
charnel-house will not rise again, or any part of it; there 
will be no personal identity. Indeed, their views would 
conform better with the theory of a new creation than with 
the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. 

The views of Universalists relative to the resurrection, and 
the proofs they present, we will now record, so far as we 
have been able to learn them from different authors. The 
difficulty to learn their precise opinion on the subject, arises 
from the fact, that there is much indefiniteness, and an ap- 
parent change among them in relation to the resurrection 
of the dead, as to the body , the manner, the time when, 
<fcc, but they unequivocally assert, that the whole human 
race will be raised, and will be equal in character, in puri- 
ty, and cdl without distinction will be the children of God 
and heirs of unceasing glory. 

THE OPINIONS THEY ENTERTAIN AND THEIR* PROOFS. 

Mr. Cobb, who stands forth as an expositor of the truth 
and word of God, in speaking of the resurrection and the 
time when it shall take place, holds the following language 
and sentiment. As he speaks for the denomination and 
expresses without hesitation the sentiment as generally 



I hi RESURRECTION 01 I Bl DI \n. 

ined, we presume thai his declaration is founded on 
:id truth. M (Jniversalism involved the resurrection <>f 
the human race from the state of death into a state immor- 
tal, where the) shall ■ .'I al length know, and lovo, and en- 
(1. l>ut whether the resurrection instantly succeedf 
ath of the body, or whether it is a pr< work 

in the hands of God, performed upon- different individuals 
at different times, as he shall be pleased to raise them, or 
whether it i> .t<> take place with .-ill simultaneously, at some 
future time, Dniversalism, as ide. Dif- 

ferent individuals have their different opinions on this 
tion." If the above writer i the opinion of Qni- 

arrectly, then they have not as yet decided from 
aching of the Bible, or their philosophy, in relation to 
the time of the resurrection, or whether it will be simul- 
taneous, or take place during all time immediately after the 
death of the body. If the latter be true, then, either there are 
- in the graves and vaults, which contradicts 
matter oi' fact, or else many of the denomination deny the 
literal resurrection of the dead. 

Mr. Walter Balfour, who is known and acknowledged as 
a materialist, speaks on this wise, " We may with equal 
truth believe in pre-existent spirits, as in disembodied spir- 
its. In short, we may as well assert the pre-existence of 
bodies and spirits before God created them, as assert the 
separate existence of either after death. Both return to 
their original condition." If this writer's opinions prove 
true, then the future world will be inhabited, if at all, by a 
race of intelligences distinct from the human family upon 
the earth. For the notion is too crude, to admit a doubt in 
the rational world may be reduced to its 
original nonentity, both .body and soul, and then eventu- 
ally brought into existence again, the same conscious and 



366 TUB RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

distinct race, by the energy of the resurrection. How 
dark, crude, absurd is the philosophy of human wisdom! 

Another writer, in reference to the resurrection of the 
identical bodies, ventures these remarks, " These "specula- 
tions may be considered foolish, but no more so than the 
doctrine is absurd. The question is, do or do not the 
Scriptures warrant the opinion, that the bodies of men are 
to be raised ? / think they do not. I understand that the 
heavenly body is entirely distinct from earthly matter, flesh, 
and blood." 

The Rev. E. M. Pingree in a debate with the Rev. N. 
L. Rice, at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the doctrine of Universal 
Salvation, bases the realization of his doctrine, in the future 
world, upon the resurrection of the dead. He enters some- 
what largely and minutely into the exposition of the doc- 
trine according to his views. That he states the views of the 
denomination correctly, especially in the West, might be 
inferred from the endorsement of the character and ability 
of Mr. Pingree, by John A. Gurley, Editor of the Chris- 
tian Warrior. 

His first statement is*, " That in the resurrection of 
the dead — of all the dead, a change is effected that intro- 
duces all men into a state of happiness " — " into a state of 
holiness, happiness, and immortality," " But I do not believe 
that any are made entirely pure and holy in this life. I be- 
lieve that all require a change after this life, to make them 
entirely fit to enter the abodes of purity and bliss hereafter." 
Thus Mr. P. must either believe that the resurrection itself 
purifies and fits the children of men for heaven, or else 
that a certain power effects the work simultaneously with 
the resurrection, but distinct from it ; otherwise all could 
not be introduced into the kingdom of holiness and happi- 
ness. All this reasoning is not very profound, much less 
Scriptural. If the resurrection shall accomplish this mighty 



mii U>. 361 

. and since none are lit fo before 

of the fchildren of men, daring 
the time intervening beta h and the resurrection? — 

They canhat be in heai en, for they are no1 lit for 
of bliss and holiness; an "' of mise- 

ry, for there la no hell, if Universalism is the oracle of God. 
Are the children of men annihilated, or do the souls sleep 
with the body in un ; 

or the other must be the case, it' Mr. P, is correct. 

in, as physical laws operate upon matter, it will re- 
quire physical power to raise the dead ; will, therefore, the 

of God produce the moral change from sin 
to holiness ! This will be the case, if the resurrection shall, 
in moral character, fit men for heaven. Do the Scriptures 
present, that the moral character of the christian, and 
holiness of heart, are the productions of the truth and the 
spirit of God, and not of physical power ? But if Mr Pin- 
gree and Universalism are correct, then the human family 
are rendered holy and prepared for heaven, by physical 
power. 

Mr. P. is guilty of inculcating indirectly the doctrine of 
Materialism, by blending the body and soul, and making 
them identical. As all sin has its origin in the jnind which 
If polluted, the mind needs the change from sin to holi- 
and as the resurrection affects merely the body, raising 
it up and making it meet for the habitation of the soul; there- 
fore if the soul is changed by the resurrection-power of 
God, then the soul must be the same as the body, and there- 
MATTER. All these horrid conclusions are legiti- 
from the position and reasoning of Mr. P. and others 
of "like precious faith." 

On pane 101, Mr. Pingree makes the following declara- 
tion, which identities his views fully with the doctrine of 
Materialism, and also shows that he denies the resurrection 
10 



1 hi: RESl KK1< H«).\ OF 1HE DEAD. 

of out physical and identical bodies, " Again, in relation 
to 1 Cor. 14; and as to what is raised. The matter is 
just here. Man, as a human being is here mortal, sin- 
ful and suffering. He is to be raised to another life, 
immortal pure and happy. That is called the resurrection 
of the dead ; and is not merely, nor at all, the resurrec- 
tion of the physical body, which we lay in the dust. — 
Paul asks : ' How are the dead raised up ! and with what 
body do they come?' Mr. Rice says, the body alone is 
raised. This would make Paul's language absurd, 'How 
is the body raised up ? and with what body does it come V " 
I said that a corrupt soul would not be put into it; because 
Paul declares, that ■ corruption cannot inherit incorruption.' 
Mr. P. denies the resurrection of the physical body, and 
asserts that all the Scriptures mean by the resurrection of 
the dead, is, that God changes the condition of the human 
race from a sinful, mortal and suffering state, into a pure, 
immortal and happy state. Is this change a condition iden- 
tical with the resurrection of the dead ? Was Elijah dead 
and raised again, when brought to the enjoyment of purity, 
immortality and heaven ? Or do the Scriptures emphati- 
cally declare that he never saw death, and that he was 
translated to glory ? Yet the change of situation of Elijah 
was synonomous, in the opinion of Mr. P., with the resur- 
rection of the dead. The fact is, it is just no resurrection 
at all, and amounts to a bold denial of the same. If the 
dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised; the preaching 
is in vain, the christian faith is a delusion, and all are yet 
in their sins ; and those who have died, professing faith in 
Christ, have perished. 

Mr. P. says, " the physiced body we lay in the dust M 
is not raised at all ; yet we read, that at the time of the re- 
surrection of Christ, " many of the bodies of the saints 
arose." Paul also declares, that Christ -shall change our 



i I!' -I ION 01 » m. im. \i>. 

>dy, thai il m d like unto his glorious 

body." The resurrection Bhall cfa "naiwal into 

a spiritual body" from corruption t<» incorruption, from 
mortality to immortality, from weakness to power; and 
after the change of the body, fitted and prepared for a hab- 
itation of the soul, they will rise together purified and re- 
deemed by the blood of Chrisl tO heavenly (dimes. — 

Though the body is changed in the alembic of the grave 
and tin 1 resurrection, yet it will be just as much the same 
body, and -dbodi/, as kernels of wheat produced from wheat 
sown, arc bodies, and the same bodies. The fact is, they 
who deny the literal resurrection of the dead, are involved 
in a labyrinth of perplexities, error and absurdity from 
which there is no deliverance. More on this point here- 
after. 

Other writers in confirmation of their faith assert, that 
all the children of men will not only be raised from death, 
but that all will be the children of God, by the fact of the 
resurrection, and that there will be no distinction of charac- 
ter among men, so far as good or evil, righteous or wicked 
are concerned. This is the main point of the doctrine, 
which they strenuously insist upon, that all will be equal 
and the children of God, because the children of the resur- 
rection. Mr. Balfour says, "Many good people affirm with 
great confidence, that unless men are sons of God in this 
world by faith in Christ Jesus, they must be miserable for 
ever. Observe here, that our Lord says nothing like this, 
but affirms, " they are the children of God— being the 
children of the resurrection." If they are raised from the 
dead by him, they are his children. They are then be- 
i from the dead to an immortal, incorruptible life, 
which their believing here could neither procure nor pre- 
vent.'' Mr. Whittemore says, in reference to the distinc- 
tion of moral character, ;i The Bible does not support the 



370 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

doctrine of distinctions among mankind ; either in (he grave 
or beyond it" Mr. Skinner declares, that " every one 
that is raised, is raised into the kingdom of immortal'glory. 
We all shall be equal in the resurrection; all alike, all 
equally honorable, glorious and happy." We might add 
the testimony of A. C. Thomas, Mr. Montgomery and 
others ; but sufficient has already been said to show the 
opinions of Universalist preachers and writers. 1. They 
profess the doctrine that all mankind will be raised. 2. 
That in the resurrection and beyond it, there will be no dis- 
tinction of moral character. 3. That the resurrection will 
introduce the rational world into the glorious kingdom of 
God, equal in honor, in purity and happiness. 4. Many 
believe the entire man will be raised, changed and fitted 
for glory, and a spiritual body will be given, in the place of 
the physical and vile body, which latter body shall never 
be raised from the grave. 5. And all this will be effected 
by the physical power of God, in defiance of the truth, 
that holiness is alone predicable of mind, and must consist 
in holy affections, supreme love to God, and conformity to 
moral law. 

But what is their proof ? 

They appeal to reason and philosophy, to prove the ab- 
surdity of the doctrine of a literal resurrection of the dead. 
The whole, however, comprises the cavils of infidelity 
against the resurrection of the dead. Mr. Pingree states 
the sum and substance of the argument in the follow- 
ing language, "If Mr. Rice says, it is this body, is it the 
body we had seven years ago, or the one we die with ? For 
they are not the same. Infant bodies differ materially from 
those of adults ; will they have large bodies or small in the 
resurrection ? Some are malformed, maimed, distorted and 
misshapen ; are they to arise so in the immortal state ? — 
These bodies are of the dust and return to dust. Corrup- 



in i UBS! RRE4 TIOH PF THE DEAD. .'171 

tiou and worms devour them. The materials of which 

thc\ aw composed, return to then- original element*, ^hich 

mi incorporated into other bodies of other men, and 

cvni of vegetables and of beasts. The same matter of 

which our body is composed, may pass into, and constitute, 
in their turn, the bodies of men lor ;i hundred generations!] 
What portion of matter, then, at the resurrection, shall 

each man claim as his own, if this animal body is to puss 
into the future world. M The difficulties of the philosophy 

of the doctrine of the resurrection of tin; body, so much 
handled and gloried in by infidels, should be discarded by 

I niversalisis, unless they stand identified with the despisers 
of the power of God. However, impossible the literal re- 
surrection of the dead may seem to. the understanding of 
men, still the revelation of the fact, upon the authority 
of Jehovah, is sufficient to silence all cavils, resolve all 
doubts, and confound the haughty wisdom of men, that 
the power of God and the wisdom of God are abundantly 
adequate to the great work. The same question was pro- 
posed in the form of an objection, to the apostle Paul, "How 
are the dead raised? and with what body do they come? 

II His reply which may seem harsh and grating to some, 
was, " thou fool." We presume the epithet is appropri- 
ately used to all, who employ similar cavils against the re- 
surrection of the identical bodies of the dead. Do men 
not believe the power of God, that it is no greater work 
to raise the dead to life ? than to create the souls and bodies 
of men. Do men not feel the force and understand the 
teaching of nature and analogy ? Is it less complex and 
difficult for a seed of wheat to die, and be decomposed in 
the earth, and then vegetate and yield sixty fold the same 
kind of bodies, than for the human body to decay in the 
grave, and at God's appointed time, and by the instrumen- 
tality of his power, to yield a body identical ? The former 



372 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, 

is witnessed by matter of fact, and produced by the uni- 
form laws of nature, however secret, intricate and inexpli- 
cable the process; the latter is founded upon the authority 

of God, and evidenced by the resurrection of Christ, and 
his own repeated exertions in effecting the resurrection of 
the dead — the first fruit we have seen; but the general har- 
vest is yet to come. Paul says, the body is sown in weak- 
ness, it (the body) is raised in power — it (the body) is 
sown a natural body, it (the body) is raised a spiritual 
body. The body of Christ, after the resurrection, was 
spiritual, and Paul teaches that Christ shall " change our 
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious 
body" That body which dies, shall be raised; and if 
they were the children of God before death, the Saints shall 
not only have their bodies raised, but changed and glorified, 
fitted for the abodes of angels and the celestial occupation. 
This is as possible and as reasonable as that nature produ- 
ces the chrysalis, and then in due process of time sends forth 
a gilded and winged butterfly. The butterfly was once the 
offensive and vile chrysalis. So the glorified, spiritual and 
immortal bodies of the saints and sons of God, beyond the 
resurrection, will have been the vile, debased and corrupti- 
ble bodies which once endured affliction, sickness and 
death, and lay decomposing in the grave. If it is asked, how 
the butterfly came to exist, adorned and beautified — the an- 
swer is, it was produced by the established laws of nature ; 
but the resurrection of the dead is effected by the power of 
God promised in its time, and adequate for the work. The 
body of the dead is raised and fashioned as it should be, for 
future existence by the power of God. Here it stands as 
a rock in the foaming and surging ocean, in proud defiance 
of all the cavils, wild and skillful speculations of infidelity. 
And here let it rest, until God shall exemplify the truth be- 
fore an astonished and gazing world. 



nn m n rre< noN of i he di uk 

Opinio 'iun. 

The principal texts, upon which the) relj to prove their 
notioas of the resurrection, are Matth. xxii, k z\>, 30, Luke 
,>\. 84 — 36. ! Cor. 15, We shall particul [amine 

of Scripture and give them their full appli- 
cation. We quote IVfattlu wii 29, 30, M J< 
said unto them, ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures 
nor tlif power of God. For in the resurrection they neith- 
er many, no rare given in marriage, but are ae the anj 
Ccoil in Heaven." The parallel passages in Luke, read thus: 
(Luke xx : 3 i — 36.)*"And Jesus answering said unto them, 
lildren of this world many and are given in marriage : 
but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
world and the resurrection of the dead, neither marry, nor 
are given in marriage : neither can they die any more : for 
they are equal unto the angels ; and are the children of 
God, being the children of the resurrection." From these 
ges Universalis ts wish to prove. 1. That all man- 
kind will be raised from the dead. 2. And that all who 
are raised to life, are by the operation of the resurrection, 
constituted the children of God, and are equal to angels, 
and partake of immortal glory. They presume that there 
is nothing more wanting to bring the rational world to glo- 
ry and endless bliss, than simply the resurrection of the 
dead. This is the object and intention of God, in raising 
the dead, and is alone sufficient. 

What do the passages teach ? What was the chief ob- 
ject of Christ in announcing them ? What doctrines did he 
ro confute or prove ? Understanding these things, we 
shall be able to correctly interpret them. The Sadducees, a 
I \s who denied the resurrection and the exis- 
tence of spirits, came to Jesus with captious questions, de- 
siring to ensnare him and confound his wisdom. Know- 



874 Tin: resurrection of the dead. 

IBg that Christ taught the existence of disembodied spirits 
and the resurrection of the dead, they wished to show the 
folly and unreasonableness of his faith, by stating that a 

certain woman had had seven husbands in succession, and 
all were then dead, how it would he in the resurrection, 
since all had been joined to her in marriage. Thus they 
wished to know two things and the Saviour's reply mainly 
teaches and proves these two particular points. 1. The fact 
of the resurrection. 2. The condition and character of 
those raised from the dead. 

1. The fact of the resurrection. It was not the object 
of Christ, at this time, to teach whether all mankind, or but 
few should be raised. This question was not proposed, 
nor answered. The simpleyhci of the resurrection was one 
of the points taught. He declares, as Paul afterwards did, 
that the power of God was adequate to raise the dead ; this 
would crush all philosophical difficulties and infidel cavils, 
and would finally effect the resurrection. This power was 
pledged, although they did not comprehend the omnipotence 
and efficiency of the same. This was also confirmed by 
the Holy Scriptures, concerning which they erred. The 
fact of the resurrection was proved and taught by Jehovah 
to Moses when he said, " I am the God of Abraham, and 
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the 
God of the dead, but of the living." This proof silenced 
the Sadducees and should silence every infidel. 

2. The condition and character of those raised from the 
dead. The Sadducees also erred in supposing, that if there 
were a resurrection, the children of men would also trans- 
fer all their natural and social relations into the future world 
— that things would be there as they are here — Christ de- 
clares, that in this they greatly erred ; although the body 
would be raised, yet these relations and conditions which 
make marriage necessary in this world, will not exist in 



rill: KIM KK' I HI I'l ID, 

that world. Paul has elsewhere taught that the fcfody when 
raised will begreatl) changed. Ml filial, parental and e<>n- 
nubia] relations were given to men, as requisite in \ i < • w of 
their earthl) existence, and when their existenc 
ferred into the future world, these relations shall no i 
he nec id therefore cease. I 'or 111 tin • 

ihall be as the angels of God. The angels neither 

marry nor are given in marriage, nor are they subject to 
death. So shall those he who are raised from the dead 
and enter upon that world of joy, where the love and glo- 
ry of (lod shall entirely supersede the' joys and smiles of 
earth. When the body itself is spiritual, the delightful 
a o( earth are not needed, to satisfy the soul. Where 
, holiness reigns, there will be no more sin and death,, 
Borrow and burials, and there; is no need of marriages to re- 
plenish the kingdom of God. Those who art; raised thus 
are angel-like in character, in enjoyment and in occupation. 
Having become the sons of God by faith in Christ, and 
adopted into his family, though once strangers and foreign- 
ers to God, yet now living the children of God, as well as 
the angels, the one by creation and the other by adoption, 
they constitute one family, and are therefore heirs of the 
same inheritance and glory. And since saints are the chil- 
dren of God, they are begotten from the dead, as Christ 
st-fruit of them that slept. They enjoy a glo- 
rious resurrection to bliss, for the reason that they 1 are the 
children of grace ami are worthy in character of inheriting 
the future state of existt nee, with all its grandeur and im- 
mortal hi tssedness. 

:>>. Whom do< surrection, spoken ofbyChrist, in- 

clude, and who are " worthy to obtain that world and the re- 
surrection?" The Universalists declare that it includes all 
mankind, therefore, the rational world shall he saved and en- 
ter heaven. We acknowledge, that if the resurrection spoken 
lfr 



370 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

of shall embrace all mankind without distinction of persons, 
then all will be happy after the resurrection. But th< 
are insurmountable reasons, which, in our opinion, show 
that the resurrection referred to, will embrace the righteous 

only, and is the same as the w resurrection of the ju 

I lasting life." Our reasons are the following, which, 
we believe, will settle the question. 

1. The object of Christ was to refute the infidel notions 
of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection, the exis- 
tence of angels and spirits, and future rewards ; and to 
prove from the five Books of Moses, which they acknowl- 
edged, inspired and authentic, that the doctrines of the exis- 
tence of spirits and the resurrection of the dead, were sound 
and Scriptural — and in addition, he showed that a worthy 
character was requisite to gain admittance into heaven 
and a resurrection from natural death. God was the God 
of the living and not of the dead, therefore, the souls of 
the fathers, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not annihi- 
lated, but still existed ; and though their bodies had lain in 
the cave of Machpelah, hundreds of years, and had crum- 
bled into dust, yet under the promise of God, they should 
rise and be reunited with the soul. So the passage was 
understood by the Jews. Thus Christ proved the simple 

fact of the resurrection from the dead, and the existence of 
spiritual beings. The question w r as not, whether all man- 
kind should be raised, or only a few, but whether there 
would be a resurrection of the dead at all. This was 
proved. 

2. The resurrection spoken of by Christ would, in the 
use of his language, impress those who heard him, that it 
included the righteous only. The Sadducees, the immedi- 
ate auditors of Christ, attached the idea of annihilation to 
the term dead. When the dead were spoken of, the im- 
pression upon their minds was, that reference was had to 



Illi \ 01 I'll 

who had once lived, but non were annihilated soul 
and bod] • \ resurrection to life, therefore, and the God of 
heaven, the fountain of bliss and glory, being their God, 
would fix the impression < 1* < * j > in thru- mind, that the right- 

and good, like Abraham, wen- alone the partaki 

tiefits. The reason the Gathers and patrialrchs would 
only because they lived, but l>< i 
God riras their God ; they had acknowledged Ihe Lord and 
become strangers for the sake of religion, therefore, M God 
Bhamed to be called their God; " while the wick- 
ed reject him, and are " without hope and God in the world," 
therefore, they will he disowned finally by Jehovah. Mr. 
Campbell says, "Agreeably to the Jewish style of that pe- 
riod, our Lord calls that only the resurrection, which is a 
ion to glory.'' 1 
3. The Saviour himself restricts the resurrection here 
spoken of, as confined to those who are worthy of that 
world and the resurrection. A certain character is requi- 
site to men in order to be accounted worthy of that world, 
its glories, beauties and blessedness. Now, if Universalism 
be true, a good character will not be required, a bad char- 
acter will not exclude ; for nothing of the kind will be a 
consideration, but all are equally entitled to bliss eternal. — 
But the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were good and 
righteous men, God was their God, and because he lived 

should live also ; and all who have evangelical faith 
in God, are the faithful children of Abraham, and heirs ac- 
cording to promise. Such alone arc accounted worthy of 
that world, and are entitled to this resurrection. " Thou 
hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled 
their . and they shall walk with me in white xfot 

they an- worth}/. Rev. iii. 4. In order to be worthy, they 
must possess a good and approved character — it requires 
something substantially good to obtain the resurrection and 



378 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

the glories of the coining world as referred to. After men 
shall have passed a thorough trial, as silver is tried, and 
then be judged good and approved of God, then they shall 
be entitled to a resurrection which shall introduce them to 
the final reward of heaven. In this trial, some will be found 
unworthy and others worthy ; those only who are accoun- 
ted worthy shall obtain life, while the unworthy shall fail 
of that world and the resurrection of the dead. 

4. If the Saviour refers not to the resurrection of the 
righteous only, then some persons will have no resurrection 
at all, and therefore be annihilated, and the Scriptures must 
necessarily conflict. If the resurrection spoken of by Christ 
in the text is the only one, and will include all who shall 
ever be raised, then an indefinite number of the human 
family will never be raised, and just so many will be anni- 
hilated ; for only those who are judged worthy of the glo- 
ries of heaven shall be raised to life, from the dominion of 
Death ; which implies that some are unworthy. The Bi- 
ble states, that " there will be a resurrection of the just and 
of the unjust — " " to shame and to life " — " to life and to 
condemnation/ ' Indeed, the doctrine is held forth that all 
will be raised, which cannot be the case, if only those " who 
are accounted worthy of that world" are raised* There- 
fore, we have an additional evidence, that the Saviour* was 
discoursing of the resurrection of the righteous only. 

5. Those who are raised in that resurrection are the chil- 
dren of God, and as none are the children of God in the 
sense of the Saviour but true believers, therefore, the text 
refers to the righteous only. ' Christ says, " And they are 
the children of God, being the children of the resurrec- 
tion." The penitent and believing are made the children 
of God by grace, and are adopted into his family ; and be- 
cause they are the children of God, they are accounted 
worthy of the blessedness of the future world and the re- 



in lECl ION 0] I in: I'l. \i». 

surrection Brora the dead. They must first be made the 
children of < ted by faith and grace, before thej are entitled 
to the resurrection of the just to immortality. Paul teaches 
thai the children of God, which have received the first 
fruits of the Spirit," groan within theme 
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of their bodies.* 1 Rom. 
are made the children of ( rod, before 
their bodies are raised from death ; yea,* even while they 

roan in their painful, and sickly bodies. Even then 
they hope and anxiously await the time of fill! and com- 
plete redemption from the grave. 

The interpretation, given by Universalists, of Christ's 
language, M they are the children of God, being the children 
of the resurrection,' ' is, that all by virtue of their resurrec- 
tion are constituted the children of Cod — because they are 

I, they are God's children and heirs of eternal glory. 
This is a false construction of what Christ says, and is in- 
consistent with their own theory. They profess to believe, 
that all are the children of God, from the fact, that God has 
created men in his own image, and therefore their final holi- 
ness and happiness is secured. But their belief in regard 
to the resurrection would show, that none are the children 
of God before the resurrection of the dead, and that all are 
made such by virtue of the resurrection and entitled to 

en. Both cannot be true. The former we have con- 
futed in the first chapter of this book, and the latter now. 

ncal power can never produce moral character, yet this 
power shall raise the dead. The only alternative for Uni- 

lists is to surrender this portion of Scripture, and no 
more press it for the confirmation of their opinions of the 
resurrection, or else if they persist, they must accept the 
conclusion, the annihilation of an indefinite 
number of the human race, and thus overthrow the s\ 
ui Uiriversalism ; for this teaches that all mankind will be 



380 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

made holy and happy in the resurrection of the dead, which 
cannot be true, if a part of the world is annihilated ; un!< 
annihilation and Universal Salvation are one and the same, 

As a good character and a bad character are opposite, and 
must necessarily have widely different results; and as a 
good character is indispensable to secure a resurrection to 
glory, therefore a bad character must either prevent a re- 
surrection, or else secure one to shame and contempt. The 
latter is taught by the Bible. 

The next Scripture they appeal to in order to establish 
their opinions of the resurrection of the dead is found in 

I Cor. xv. They claim the whole chapter as a triumphant 
proof of the resurrection of all the dead to immortal bless- 
edness ; but we need not transcribe the whole ; the reader 
may open his Bible and read it leisurely. We shall quote 
a few of the main passages, commencing with verse 21. 

II For since by man came death, by man came also the re- 
surrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." Also verses 25 — 28, and 
42 — 55. These passages, they hold, teach the doctrine, 
that as many as die in Adam shall be raised in Christ, and 
that therefore the whole rational world shall have a resur- 
rection to a glorious immortality, and become the partakers 
of Christ's future and eternal kingdom, which shall insure 
holiness and ceaseless happiness. This is their strong 
bulwark. 

But few sermons are preached by Universalis^, which 
do not contain some portion of this chapter, and handled as 
an unanswerable argument and vindication of their theory 
of the resurrection ; nevertheless, their interpretation will 
clearly lead to three horrid errors. 

1. That the souls of men are changed and fitted for glory 
by the resurrection. They believe that all men are not as 
yet subordinated to Christ and prepared for heaven, but 



thai they will be in ti ,(i i in of the d€ id. \t that 

ppy — 

from the grave tin \ shall wall 

and bliss. The i . < \ tdentl) , 

will requir of the physical power of God 

if tin .I and pi i j by the i 

■! effect it But 

; i in chai informed to the moral law 

of God, resulting from the operations of i truth 

upon the J Is of life. For- 

giveness o( sin, and supreme love to God, and a holy life 
are pre-requisites to enter heaven; yet these are not the 
productions of physical power. 

2, Their reasoning lends to Materialism, and the uncon- 
scious sleep of the soul, from the day of death unto the hour 
of the resurrection. If the soul is changed, made holy and 
happy by the physical power which raises the dead, then 
the soul must he a material substance ; for all physical 
power operates on matter, but moral power on spirit. It 
not only leads to Materialism ; but also vindicates the un- 
conscious sleep of the soul in the intermediate state. If the 
physical power of God raises and changes the soul, then 
the soul of man must have been as actually dead and un- 
conscious, as the body. If the soul is prepared for heaven 
by the resurrection-power of God, then the soul must be a 
materia! substance, and if a material substance, then it 
repose in unconscious sleep in the intermediate state, 
e doctrines are all intimately and inseparably connect- 
ed — they stand or fall together. 

.'*. They deny the resurrection of the literal bodies of the 
>int, we have shown in the preceding p 
Their mode of interpretation and the principles thej 
ish. lead legitiniatel) to the idea, that Cod will prepare a 
ction, distinct and entirely separate from 



382 HIE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

that in the grave — a spiritual body — and thereby they inti- 
mati nation rather than a resurrection of the dead. 

If God gives new and distinct bodies, there will be a 
new creation by the physical power of God, and not a re- 
surrection of the dead; therefore the opinions of Univer- 
salists, when definitely and properly carried out, place a 
denial upon the common and generally received ideas of 
the resurrection. 

Let us now enter into an investigation of 1 Cor. xv. as 
thoroughly as our limits will admit. 

1. To whom Paul addressed this epistle. He directed 
it to the church of God at Corinth, and it was addressed to 
all christians at Corinth, to ail who are saints and sanctified 
in Christ Jesus, and to all who in every place call upon his 
name. (1 Cor. i. 2.) 

2. The object he had in view. To correct abuses and 
errors, and teach them the will of God clearly and emphat- 
ically. The fifteenth chapter was written to prove and 
vindicate the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and, 
obviously, the resurrection of believers in Christ, and all 
those who had fallen asleep in Christ Jesus. If the re- 
surrection of all the dead is taught, it is aside from the 
main object and introduced incidentally. The christian is 
addressed in this epistle, and particularly in this chapter, 
which is evident from the first and last verses of the chap- 
ter. The subject therefore is, the resurrection of the dead, 
the resuscitation of the bodies of the saints, and their change 
to glory and immortality. 

3. The drift and force of the apostle's argument. The 
Apostle proceeds to prove (verses 3 — 11.) the^ac* of the re- 
surrection of Christ by the prophetical Scriptures and the 
unquestionable testimony of living witnesses. Though 
some, who had been well acquainted with the resurrection 
of Christ and could testify to its truthfulness, had gone to 



Fill \ 01 MM M'.AD. 

Miit mansions and slumbers of ih< i dead, je\ others 
were still living, whose evid< ally credible. — 

[f then the resurreetinn of < 'hrist was I' iuon\ 

sufficient to prow anj other event, huw is it, inquires the 
apostle, "thai Borne declare that th irrection of 

the dead?" 

Paul shov . 13.] thai the n n of Christ 

infallible and triumphant proof of the truthfuln 
the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; ami that if the 
dead rise not, then it is equally certain, that the resurrection 
of Christ is false and a gross mistake, lie buses the re- 
surrection of the dead solely on Christ's — they are linked 
in inseparable union. 

Prom verses 1 1 — 19, the apostle portrays the gloomy 
and horrid consequences of a denial of the doctrine of the 
resurrection. Well might the same apostle aver, that Hy- 
meneus and Philetus had erred and overthrown the faith of 
some, by maintaining that the resurrection was. already 
past. (2 Tim. ii. 17, 18.) He, in this epistle, teaches the 
Corinthians, that if the dead rise not, then the doctrine of 
Christ's resurrection is a sham, the preaching of the gospel 
is vain, and all the apostles were false witnesses of God ; 
the faith in which christians rejoiced and gloried, is false- 
hood and hypocrisy, and they are still polluted and incum- 
bered with their sins ; all those who died with an assurance 
of heaven by faith in Christ, found their hope blasted by 
trusting in utter delusion, and have finally perished ; and 
those who are living, hoping and trusting in Christ, denying 
and suffering for the sake of his gospel, are of all men the 
most deserving of pity in their wretched choice. At all 
sad conclusions, the mind of Paul was startled, shrunk 
ltd returned, with an assurance redoubled in vigor and 
confidence, to assert the basis of the hope of all christians, 



384 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

that Christ had actually risen from the dead and become 
the iirst fruits of them that slept. 

The apostle, having proven the resurrection of the dead 
and the importance of the doctrine, proceeds to answer 
questions, confute philosophical objections, point out the 
author, and give the doctrine of the resurrection its practi- 
cal and glorious application. 

4. The apostle proceeds to show (verses 20 — 23.) the fact, 
(lie author, the extent and order of time, of the resurrection 
of the dead. With an unwavering and triumphant assur- 
ance, he declares that Christ had actually risen from the 
dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. As the 
Jew was commanded to bring the first sheaf of grain as an 
offering of the Lord, and which should be a pledge of the 
coming harvest ; so the resurrection of Christ was first in 
dignity and rank, and became a pledge to the world, that 
the dominion of death was broken, and would be completely 
demolished in the resurrection of the whole harvest. 

The Lord Jesus became also the author of the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. " For since by man came death, by man 
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam 
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." These 
two passages form the strongest among the strong argu- 
ments of Universalism. Take away these from the foun- 
dation of their fabric, and their hope will lose its key-stone. 
We shall show, that they themselvess attempt to destroy 
and disbelieve an important truth asserted by Paul in these 
passages. He teaches that death came by man, that by 
the act and agency of Adam, the first man, all were made 
mortal — "by man came death," "in Adam all die" Do 
Universalists believe this ? Do they not fearlessly, and in 
every place, where they hold forth, proclaim that God 
created man mortal? That the original transgression did 
not procure mortality and death, for man would have died, 



nil R] -i RR] l HON 01 i in Dl \i». 

had our primeval parent inned, because God im- 

planted mortality in stitution and nature of man I 

What say, A. 11. Grosh, A. 0. Barry, Ballou, Balfour and 
Why destroy their own argument! I Paul evi- 
dently teaches that death was brought into the world by 

. iml not by every num. nor by God; and as one 
man, namely Adam, was the procuring agent of mortality, 
so lik man, namely Christ, procured the i 

;i of the dead — Christ became man to restore the ruin 
of the fall which was effected by one man. As Adam pro- 
cured, by his willful disobedience, the curse of natural 

death, being the first of the human race on the earth, he 

entailed its blighting iniluence over the entire race. A cor- 
relatr is seen in the other effects of the curse. 

Adam was doomed to eat his bread with the sweat of his 
brow, and thorns and thistles should grow up from the 
earth, all mankind feel the effect of this doom. The woman 
doomed to travail in pain and distress, and the same 
curse abides upon all her daughters. The sentence of 
death was passed upon xVjJam — inasmuch as his body was 
formed from the dust, it was doomed to return to dust. 
Alatter of fact declares, that all die, and that none are exempt, 
which is therefore a corroboration of the word of God. 

In verse 22, the extent of death is seen to affect all man- 
kind, and the extent of the resurrection to make alive, is 
commensurate with the death of all. In member and ex- 
tent, the last all will balance the first all — to make alive is 
the antidote for death. However, two important ideas 
I 1 be carefully kept in mind. — 1. that the text refers ex- 
clu&ively to nat\ th — the death of the body. — 2. And 

to make tht bo I alive again by the resurrection- 

power of Christ, including no other condition, qualifia 
character, or hope. If every oth< r feature of the curse pro* 
nounced upon our first parents was literal, (Gen, iii. 14—19) 



380 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

then we have no authority to apply the curse of death on 
man to any thing else than natural death, as recorded in 
Ccn. iii. 19. It is the death of the body, for the body 
alone returns to the dust. If the resurrection of Christ was 
literally the resurrection of his body, which none can doubt, 
then death is the death of the body, therefore natural death. 
The argument of Paul was to prove the simple fact oj 
death, the death of all, occasioned by Adam, the first man ; 
and the fact that the dead, all the dead, would be made 
alive by Christ — the body was made mortal and suffers 
death, and the body shall be made alive in the resurrection. 
Not one word is said, that any thing else is effected by 
Christ besides simply to make alive those who die — nothing 
about the soul, a change of the soul, making it holy and 
happy. As life may exist independent of holiness, a right- 
eous character and its consequent happiness, so we have 
no authority to say, that because the dead are made alive 
in the resurrection, therefore they will be holy and happy ; 
yea rather, we are prohibited from drawing such an infer- 
ence, from the fact, that such a character and such blessed- 
ness can only be affirmed of the soul, and that it is impos- 
sible for the resurrection to produce any effect without an 
adequate cause. All the resurrection can do, and will do, 
is to make alive the bodies of the dead, and spend its in- 
fluence in that direction ; the soul is not dead as the body 
is dead ; therefore Paul had no reference to the soul, the 
fountain and seat of holiness, of righteousness and of bliss. 
Then all that these passages prove, is that all die in con- 
sequence of the sin of one man; and that all are restored 
from a state of natural death to a state of natural life by the 
act -of one man. This the Scriptures teach and all orthodox 
people believe ; but this is not Universalism. The argument 
fails of proving the system of Universalism, both in its pre- 
mises and conclusions, therefore is wholly inadequate, yea, 



i ii. BC1 [OK 01 i HI 287 

The premises of Paul's argument do no1 include 
die moral < rin, (only the natural effects on the body) 

nor the soul of m*i as affected by sin, therefore what < 'hrisl 
to far as the argument is concerned,) v. tied to 

counteract the natural effects of sin only, that is, to take the 
body from the powi ith and make it alive, The 

conclusion Universalism draws, is, i 1 Ohrisl 

• the el* :m! alive, therefore nil are made holy and hap- 
py, Hui since holiness and happiness cannotbe pred i 
o( the body, such an idea being absurd, and since Christ's 
work is confined to making the body nli\c, 08 Adam' 

the body mortal, therefore final holiness and happi- 
;m never be effected from the resurrection of the 
—the conclusion is unwarrantable, and Universalism is 
left without its foundation. 

To prove Universalism from these passages, you must 
put into the mouth of the apostle quite another argument 
and another set of premises. The argument should have 
been, there generation and moral change of the soul, instead 
of the resurrection of the body ; and instead of the natural 
effects of sin upon the body, rendering it mortal, it should 
portray the moral effects of sin on the soul, that all man- 
kind are condemned, guilty and exposed to divine wrath by 
the sin of one man, viz : Adam; and that the soul is con- 
verted, sin is forgiven, and holiness and happiness restored 
by one man, viz: Christ. This would prove the doctrine 
of final holiness and happiness, as taught by Universalists. 
But first, the above argument is not that of the apostle, 
he had no reference to it at all. Secondly, it would destroy 
the free agency of man, by placing the soul in the inactive 
position of the body, and therefore would conflict with the 
own government. Thirdly, it would des- 
troy some of the principles of Universalism, build up in 
one place and tear down in another. Universal ists profess 



388 HIE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

believe, that man is born as pure now and with the same 
nature that Adam had when created, - therefore his sin 
could not morally affect his offspring. 'Phis conflicts with 
the above argument. Universalis ts profess to believe, that 
the soul is not the original seat of sin, but that the body is ; 
and that the soul is not affected by sin, never losing the 
favor of God, but that sin begins and ends in the body, 
therefore the soul needs no change, as commonly understood 
by the new-birth. This position also conflicts with the 
above supposed argument. Universalists profess to believe, 
that all that Christ did, was never designed to save men in 
another world, but merely to affect them in this life, making 
them happier and better ; and that the bliss and glory of 
heaven is bestowed upon all men, wholly independent of 
Christ's w r ork and man's character in this world, as a free 
gift of God. If so, then Christ never will restore men to 
holiness and happiness by the resurrection, or any other 
agency. Therefore, let Universalism grapple with either 
argument, it must fall before the Goliath of truth. 

But Paul has impregnably fortified his own argument 
against all erroneous conclusions ; especially, against that 
of Universalism. He says, verse 23, "But every man in 
his own order ; Christ the first-fruits ; afterward they that 
are Christ's, at his coming." Although there will be a re- 
surrection of all the dead, yet it will be according to the 
order or arrangement of God — "every man in his own 
order" The word order (tagma) refers to a military 
array ; the arrangement of troops, placing the leader and 
every man in his proper position according to dignity and 
rank — every man in his place and time. So it will be in 
the resurrection; Christ the first in rank and honor is the 
leader, and he rose first from the dead as a pledge of a 
general resurrection; next in order of time, they who are 
Christ's, or all christians. This argument confuted the 



nil HEfl RR] I l i"N 01 I in. hi \P. 

Idea that the resurrection waa already past, for Chrie 
only aa yet risen from death; and it also shows, thai all 
who are Christ's, up to the time of hi , and onl) 

auch, shall be made alive by Christ next in the order of 
tunc. The argument of Paul was chiefl; d to prove 

the resurrection of Christ and all who became chru 
daring his mediatorial reign, who lived and died, or fell 
asleep in Christ — all such belong to Christ; foT he aaya 

K word about the time and manner of the resum 
of those who do not belong to Christ, and who " die in their 
sins." But who arc Christ's? Those who have the spirit 
of Christ, and not the spirit of bondage again to fear. "If 
any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of ///v." 
Rom. viii. 9. Those who are separate from the world and 
'lie word of God and believe on Christ, and not those 
who are of the world, disobey God, and reject and despise 
Christ. " I have manifested thy name unto the men which 
thou gavest me out of the world * * * and they have kept 
thy word" John xvii. 6. " Neither pray I for those alone, 
but for them also which shall believe on me through their 
word." verse 20. Such belong to Christ, and he has pro- 
mised " to raise them up at the last day." The resurrection 
of Christ's people is elsewhere in the Bible called " the re- 
surrection of the just," " to everlasting life," " to life," and 
"the first resurrection." 

The apostle having proven the fact, the author, the ex- 
the order of time, and the time when — viz. at his 
coming — the resurrection of his children shall take place, 
he proceeds to show — 

f>. Bow and by virtue of what office, Christ shall raise 
the dead, (verses 24 — 28.) It was by his character and office 
as mediator between God and men. He assumed the great 
work of reconciling the world to God, by teaching the truth, 
therefore he was a Teacher ; as a Priest to offer the sacrifice 



390 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

of himself to God, to atone for sin and honor the law, that 
" God might be just, and yet the justifier of every one that 
betieveth in him;" and as a King to rule and reign in the 
hearts of men, to destroy sin and set up a spiritual kingdom 
in the earth. 

The Lord Jesus shall continue to act as mediator, and 
reign in his kingdom until the appointed time of his com- 
ing — his coming and the end of his mediatorial kingdom, 
shall transpire at one and the same time. His last official 
act as mediator will be to raise the dead, present his com- 
mission as Savior and Intercessor, together with the results 
of the plan of salvation, and mediatorial reign, to God, and 
then he will assume the tribunal of the Universe, as Judge, 
to adjudicate the world in righteousness. His work shall 
be finished, when death is destroyed, the last enemy to the 
complete triumph of his mediatorial reign, is vanquished, 
and souls having been redeemed and purified by grace, and 
their bodies delivered from the empire of the grave ; and 
soul and body reunited, and as the saints of God, standing 
upon the shore of heavenly rest, with songs of praise and 
exulting joy upon their lips. Just so long as death sways 
his cruel sceptre over the dead in Christ, and sits on his 
throne of skulls and darkness, in defiance of the King of 
glory ; so long Christ will be mediator, offering salvation 
and life to the perishing sons and daughters of earth ; but 
when the time shall arrive for the dead in Christ to arise, 
then he will subdue death beneath his feet and despoil his 
kingdom, putting the song into the lips of his children, " O, 
death ! where is thy sting ? O, grave ! where is thy vic- 
tory ?" Then shall Christ " see of the travail of his soul," 
the law of heaven honored, believers finally redeemed and 
glorified, and heaven filled with bursting anthems of praise. 
Though Christ, as man and mediator, shall surrender his 
kingdom, yet, as God, he shall reign among the saints and 



rm lUtSURREl I ION 0] I HI DI ai». M)\ 

-, for Ins kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his 
dominion thai) see no end. 

The argum in1 drawn from the passages, M for he must 

. till he huh put all enemies under hie feet," &c, by 

fiat all mankind shall be converted and recon- 
ciled to God, become holy and happy, is a mere assumption, 
and is based upon a false construction of language andaper- 

m of the Apostle's meaning. Porif, the phrase, "put 
all enemies under his feet," must necessarily mean con- 

m and reconciliation with God, to become holy and 
happy.; then death, the last enemy that shall be destroyed, 
shall also he converted and reconciled, for he is as much 
an enemy as any thing else. Yet none would contend for 
this, for it is obviously preposterous. The fact is, that the 
language can never be made naturally to mean, conversion 
and reconciliation with God, and be descriptive of the 

! of God, prepared to enter heaven and sing its new 
song; but it is rather a graphic sketch of enemies vanquish- 
ed by the triumphal car of the Victor, bound and carried 
away into captivity. Christ shall make his enemies his 
footstool, but his saints shall reign with him in his king- 
dom, as kings and priests, forever and ever. Those be- 
neath the feet of Christ designate the wicked, who would 
not submit to God, therefore they are crushed by force and 
power, and will be vanished from the presence of God and 
the glory of his power, as exiles in the " blackness of dark- 

lorever." Let no reader delude himself with the idea, 
that if not converted in time, he will be among the number, 
who shall be subdued under the feet of Christ, therefore 
equally entitled to holiness and heaven. For the wicked 
shall not only be beneath the feet, that is, the conquering 
power of Christ, but they shall also be as ashes, beneath the 
feetof the saints. This doom will be awful in the extreme. 
r.vl b com? an humble, willing sub- 

r 



392 THE RESURRECTION 01 THE DEAD. 

ject of his kingdom, and wait not for the resurrection and 
its connecting events, to do the work for you ! Now 
you may he sure and have a hope like an anchor to the soul; 
but then you will be disappointed and ruined. 

6. How the dead will be raised, and the nature of the 
bodies raised. These were important inquiries, and the 
apostle replies to them in regular order. To the first, how 
the dead are raised, he replies in verses 36 — 38, and illus- 
trates it by the growth and production of grain. It is just 
as probable, yea possible, that the dead will be raised, as it 
is, that a seed of grain, falling into the ground, will decom- 
pose and die, but afterwards will put forth a stalk and 
yield seed after its kind. This latter is a matter of observa- 
tion and is undeniable ; and yet the resurrection of the dead 
has no more improbability and mysteriousness connected 
with it, than the reproduction of grain. The one is a known 
fact, and brought about by regular and the efficient laws of 
nature, notwithstanding God has given to each kind of grain a 
body, stalk, leaves, kernel, head and chaff, as it has pleased 
him, and to each kind that which is peculiar to itself; the 
other, how the dead are raised, is based upon the authority 
of God, and for aught we know, carried forward by the op- 
eration of laws equally regular and efficient, and is there- 
fore infallibly certain of consummation. He that doubts 
the growth of grain is foolish, and he that is sufficiently in- 
considerate and unwise to reject the possibility of the re- 
surrection from the dead, betrays his ignorance and want of 
confidence in God and his power. 

The particles of matter which formed the seed sown, will 
not constitute the seed and stalk produced, yet they spring 
directly from the seed sown and dying in the earth, and 
there is sufficient sameness, in order to call the grain, the 
same kind of grain including like particles of matter, though 
not the same matter. So the dead shall be raised by the 



TBI U>« 393 

I rod, and to 
int the body which belongs to him and tits him 
for the employment of heaven ; and to the sinner th» 
inging to him and fitted for perdition. 
The apostle gi tpositioo of th 

used m v« ix s 39 — 50. Here he 
u ill be no wider variation in the bo4i 

»rld than there now exists in time and 8] 
still all are bodies. They may be different in kind and or- 
ganization on earth. - aire ami o 

re such bi the Lord hats pleased to give. So 

the bodies raised from the empire of death may be ch; 
and organized upon different principles, yet they n 

me bodies. This, he illustrates by saying, "All flesh 
the same flesh' 1 — men, beasts, birds and fishes have 
differ* all is flesh. The different basis of or- 

ganization does not make one flesh and another something 
else. There are also different bodies ; some celestial, like 
the sun, moon and stars ; and others terrestrial, like moun- 
tains, trees, rocks and flowers — but the glory of all bodies 
varies, of those on earth, and of those in the azure skies. 
So it will be in the resurrection. The resurrection of the 
dead will be analogous to the springing up of the grain ; 
and the nature of their bodies, may be compared to the dif- 
ferent degrees of splendor and magnificence of bodies, on 
the earth, and in the sky. 

In verses 12 — 14, he directly expresses the nature of the 
change of the bodies in the resurrection from what they 
were while on earth. The body is sown in corruption ; 
but this body is raised in incorruption, and no more liable 
knesfr, death and putrefaction ; it is sown in dishonor, 
being loathsome in death, and an offensive, putrid mass in 
the grave; but it is raised in honor, beauty and glory — ex- 
ace and perfection will adorn it . -n in weak- 



394 THi; RESURRECTION 01 THE DEAD. 

ness, liable to derangement and prostration ; but it shall be 
raised in power, free from fatigue and lassitude ; it is sown 
a natural body, and raised a spiritual body. " There is a 
naturalbody and there is spiritual body." It is apparent 
to all, that there is a natural body, and it is equally certain 
that there is a spiritual, though not proven by the same evi- 
dences and clearness, yet based on divine authority. The 
meaning and difference of the phrases, a natural otid spirit- 
ual body. They are placed in contrast, and must convey 
an opposite sentiment. The term natural embraces the 
peculiar organization, the relations and conditions of the 
body, which fit it for this world and answer its destiny on 
earth ; while the term spiritual means, that the body will 
be released from every feature and relation necessary and 
peculiar to its existence on earth, and unfitting it for the 
employment and service of heaven. The spiritual body 
does not mean something the opposite of matter, for we 
cannot affirm a body of a pure spirit — spirits have no bo- 
dies — and the apostle has all along been proving that the 
same body which was sown, shall be raised ; therefore the 
spiritual body must be matter, and matter organized, but 
upon such principles as shall preclude the mere animal na- 
ture in man, which is an appendage to the body peculiar 
to the earth. The natural body is adapted to the condition 
and operations of this gross earth, while the spiritual body 
is endowed with capacities and a nature peculiar to heaven, 
and like the glorified body of Christ. 

The nature a»d origin of a natural body and of a spirit- 
ual, the apostle farther illustrates and amplifies in verses 45 — 
49. Adam was possessed of a natural body, endowed with 
animal life, relations and affections, and dependent on food 
to replenish the waste of his body on earth — so far as his 
earthly body was concerned, it must derive its support from 
the earth. But Christ had a glorified body, spiritual, and 



i ii . \ o] i in Di id. 395 

of quickening and supporl within Itself, and not 
dependent on foreign aid and support. The body we de- 
rive from tin* first man, is Like his, subject to 
pam, distress and death ; but the body we shall get from 
Christ bj the resurrection, will be like the body of Christ, 
for he shall "change our vile body and fashion it like unto 
iorioua body," no more dependent on the gross mate- 
rials of earth for support and continued existence; for the 
spring of life shall be located in its organization. Such 
a body is desirable, therefore, the saints of God anxiously 
await the second coining- of the Lord of glory, and the re- 
demption of the body. Their soul was made holy, and 
I in time by faith in Christ, and now the body 
awaits the regenerating efficacy of the power of God, exer- 
cised in view of the atonement. This is certain to the 
saints ; just as infallible as that they once possessed bodies 
like Adam, weak, liable to decay and corruption. They 
shall also have bodies like the glorified body of Christ. 

God is not only able to raise the dead, to change their 
bodies after passing through the ordeal of the grave, to or- 
ganize them upon a difTerent basis fitted for that world ; but 
it is absolutely indispensable that the bodies of the saints 
should be different from what they now are. " Flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" such fragile, 
corruptible and mortal bodies as believers have in this world, 
are unfit for and cannot be admitted into that world, where 
sickness, decay disease and putrefaction arc never known. 
That which is in itself corruptible can never be adapted to 
a state of existence, relations and employments, where all is 
incorrupt] 

The dead are prepared for their existence, while those 
who are living, praying and waiting for the coming of the 
Lord, are changed in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump. The bodies of the living and dead shall have the 



390 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

same renovation, and be organized alike after the model of 
the Saviour's glorified body. If the work of raising the 
dead bodies to life, strikes infidelity with incredulity and 
amazement, what heightened astonishment will be produ- 
ced by the act of power that shall change the weak, sickly 
and corruptible bodies of all the, saints, who shall be living 
and abiding on the earth at the moment of the resurrection, 
making them glorious, and adapted to the condition of the 
future world. The burst of praise, that shall roll up its 
magnificent tidings along the sounding skies, as the ascend- 
ing millions of saints redeemed in soul and body, shall 
leave the earth to the curse and winding sheet of fire, will 
be a scene that shall produce a thrill to the farthest limits of 
Jehovah's empire. Death will be conquered and the grave 
spoiled, when the ecstatic song of the redeemed, shall com- 
mingle with the choral notes of descending angels, in myri- 
ad throngs, to welcome them to higher and heavenly joys, 
as the fruit and gathered harvest of the mediatorial reign of 
Christ. 

" Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory." All 
the saints of God obtain a victory over sin, death and the 
grave, through the Lord Jesus Christ. The victory over 
sin, they secured by faith in Christ, — of this they enjoyed 
the evidence and assurance ; but the victory over. death and 
the grave, the apostle has explained and proven in this chap- 
ter ; he has dispersed the horror and gloom of the grave, 
raised the curtain of life and immortality, and permitted us 
to scan the full and earnest commencement of eternal life, 
and rivers of unfathomable glory. In view of all these 
things — be steadfast in faith and abounding in the work of 
the Lord, for such labor shall not be in vain; for Paul also 
labored and suffered, " if by any means he might attain 
unto the resurrection of the dead." At death, he found the 
crown of righteousness, and his sleeping body awaits the 



in; : I no\ OF Tin: DEAD. 

consummation of the mysteries of God on earth, and the 

j up of the Saviour's meditorial reign. It will feel 
the voice of thai trump which shall startle and rock the 
mansions of the sleeping dead, and ari 

think, thai ire have amply proven the doctrine of the 
resurrection of the dead; and thai the argument of Chri 
Luke ixii., and of Paul in I ( 'or. n . do, by no means, sustain 
of Universalism; bul rather nullify all its i laims of 
deducing die final holiness ami happiness of all men, from the 
simple fact, that all the dead shall he made alive. The passa- 
nsidered are those which are relied upon by 
Universalists, in order to prove the reconciliation of all the 
world to God by the resurrection, and we have found that 
do not answer their purpose, but rather lay prostrate 
daring assumption. 
We have a few more passages, which we shall quote, to 
prove directly, the truthfuluess of the doctrine of the resur- 
rection, as understood by us. We might, however, rest 
the argument here ; for if we have effectually routed the 
proofs of Universalists, relative to their notion of holiness 
and happiness in and by the resurrection, then it must be 
true, that all who are not made holy by faith in Christ 
prior to the resurrection, shall fail of heaven. 

1. The resurrection will be general. All mankind will 
be raised — all the generations of men, who have lived in 

if the world, shall come forth to life again. This 
1 mitred, and needs no proof in this connection. 

2. 'I'ii- Bpecified time of the resurrection, is at the termi- 
nation of Christ's mediatorial reio;n. 

• i as y<t determined and set- 
tled the time of the rest from the dead, whether 
immediately after death, or gradually effected in the hand 
of God, at asubsequcnt time ; whether it will be simultan- 
eous with all, or as each individual beeomes prepared for 



398 THF RESURRECTION OF THE DKAD. 

the event; nevertheless, matter of fact and Scripture have 
passed judgment upon this question. Some have said, that 
the resurrection is past, in this they erred, and overthrew 
their own, and the faith of others. Matter of fact points to 
the grave and the charnel-house, and there the mouldering 
bodies are still reposing; therefore, the dead have not risen. 
Christ, the first-fruits has made his appearance from the 
mantling darkness of the grave, clothed in beauty and im- 
mortality ; but those who are Christ's will not awake and 
leap forth out of the prison-house of death, till Christ come, 
and angel-trumpets sound the jubilee. He must destroy 
death, the last enemy of the children of God, and that will 
take place at the time when the mediatorial kingdom shall 
cease. But Christ is still Mediator, therefore the dead are 
not raised. The time is, at the closing up of the affairs of 
this world. 

3. The same contrast of character seen in this world, will 
be disclosed by the resurrection, and fix the destiny of all 
men accordingly. 

Beyond successful contradiction, there is a broad contrast 
of characters among men in this world, and we are assured 
by Scripture that the same will exist beyond the grave. — 
There is nothing in mental or bodily anguish, in sickness, 
affliction, death, the grave and the resurrection, adapted to 
change the heart to holiness and the character to righteous- 
ness. They who die in sin, will arise to condemnation 
and everlasting contempt. We read in Dan. xii. 2. "And 
many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt." Here we have the condition of 
" life " put in contrast with " shame and contempt." 

1. Thess. iv. 14. "For if we believe that Jesus died and 
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesits, will 
God bring with him" Those who are dead in Christ, 



Tin El now OF I in i»i \r>. :{ { J!) 

died while christians, God will bring up from earth with 
Christ, the first-fruits. In order to die in Christ, we must 

ire in him and trust in the atonement. The wicked do 
not die in Christ, but in their sins, and they have no assur- 
ance of rising with Christ. "The dead in Christ shall rise 
At the vit\ time when the Lord shall descend from 

d with a shout and the voice of the archangel. As 
they left the world with a righteous character and holiness 
oi' heart, so they shall awake in Christ, and enjoy their des- 
tined lot in the presence of the Lord. 

The apostle Paul suffered the loss of all things, and deem- 
ed them worthless, that he might be found in Christ, and he 
clothed with the righteousness of God by faith, that he 
might fully know him and the power of his resurrection, to 
be like Christ in life and in death, that by "any means he 
might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. iii. 
1 1 . As Paul believed in the resurrection of all the dead, 
and therefore he would be "made alive" as a matter of in- 
evitable consequence, he wished to express something more 
by the resurrection, and had evidently in view the resurrec- 
tion of the righteous. To attain this, required effort, faith 
and a christian life and death, and he felt resolved to appre- 
hend, to seize such a glorious boon, such an honorable dis- 
tinction and such immortal blessedness, by any means. 

The christian era disclosed times of persecution and 
trial, believers in Christ were destroyed; some recanted, 

1 life and were restored to the bosom of their families ■ 
while others would not accept a deliverance from the sent- 

of "martyrdom by a renunciation of their faith; lor they 
wished to "obtain a better resurrection." Heb. xi. 35. 
Should they renounce religion and die a natural death, they 
would be raised in I ! resurrection; bul they pre- 

! to die as martyrs, and to fail asleep in Christ, that 
they might obtain a better resurrection, that of the 

17' 



400 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

eous to glory and immortal blessedness. We not only 
learn a distinction in the resurrection, and a difference in 
characters of those raised, but also that the conduct, 
faith, life and character exert their influence and deter- 
mine the time, manner and reward of those who are 
raised. 

We read in Acts xxiv. 15. " And have hope toward 
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be 
a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" 
Luke xiv. 14. "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resur- 
rection of the just." Paul teaches that there will be a re- 
surrection of the dead — that the Old Testament taught this 
doctrine — that the Jews, especially the Pharisees, believed 
and hoped for the resurrection of the dead — that the resur- 
rection would be general, including the just and the unjust, 
and this the Savior confirms. Those who die as the saints 
of God, shall rise and be holy and just ; but those who die 
in their sins, shall rise, but it will be among the wicked and 
the unjust. It is well known and acknowledged, that the 
great majority of the Jews believed, that the wicked would 
be raised to life with the same character they had when 
they died, and that after the resurrection, they would be cast 
into hell and be punished forever. Now, "this dogma, how- 
ever horrible to the refinement and sensibility of Univer- 
salists, was nevertheless believed, and instead of being con- 
futed by Christ and his apostles r they constantly employed 
language and expressed sentiments which would naturally 
confirm them in their faith. Therefore, they either disre- 
garded error, or else the doctrine is true. The latter must 
be the case, for they repeatedly and constantly assailed and 
controverted the prevailing errors of the day. 

We quote John v. 28, 29, " Marvel not at this : for the 
hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall 



Ill . ' I M\ 01 I M I Dl \l>. 101 

. and shall come forth ; they thai 
rection of life; and they that 
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 91 Tins passage 

tit, and l!i will find 

of the text in the chapter on Future Punishment 
We have now investigated thr position, "thai the whole 
of men, shall be made finallj holy ami happy in heaven, 
bj the resurrection oi the dfead," and in all its proofs, as- 
and bearings, \\<' discover no adequate canst! adapted 
io produce the radical change, the holy dispositions and 
ous character, indispensably necessary to stand ap- 
1 before God, and he qualified to enjoy unsullied plea- 
Wc find no proof of the design of the resurrection 
Io change and prepare the soul for glory ; but rather, that 
it mei B alive the body, leaving the soul as it was 

iound in death. We have been impressed with the truth 
of the resurrection, of the righteous to life, and the wicked 
ination ; that by faith in Christ, and the belief of the 
truth, men become the children of God and sanctified in 
heart, and thus only become prepared for the resurrection 
of the just, and to participate in the service and joys of the 
future and spiritual world ; — that all those who are Christ's 
in life, shall die in the Lord, and them God will bring forth 
with the Savior in the first resurrection, changing their vile 
bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious bodv, beau- 
tiful, incorruptible and immortal in heaven. These are 
words of consolation to the afflicted and dying children of 
God, and they are commanded to cheer each other with 
ised promises. 
But lei none of the wicked, polluted by sin and debased 
Actions and moral principles, delude their mind, 
and pervert the truth and promises of God into falsehood 
and h; . and build upon the quick- 



402 THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

hope, in their vain dreaming, to enter the paradise of God 
and join the sacramental throng, in the sweet employment 
of prayer and praise. Their hope will certainly be blasted, 
and mantle the soul with shame, leaving them to the ele- 
ments of perdition. " Awake to righteousness and sin not." 
1 Cor. xv. 34. 



r II A P T E R \ I I. 

mi vi [URE \\i> OgNERAL JUDOMSNl . 

Fhen .shall ye return, and discern between the right- 
eous and the wicked: bet free?) him that servcth God, and 
him that serreth him not." Mai. iii. 18. 

The people, in the days of the prophet Malachi, became 
profane ill sentiment, reckless in conduct, and infidel in their 
faith. They denied the judgment of God, and the rewards 
of that day ; nevertheless the prophet emphatically declared 
unto them, that the time would arrive, when an unerring 
line of demarcation would be drawn between the righteous 
and the wicked, and then all might discern between the 
lover and hater of God. 

So also in these last days, have arisen scoffers, saying : 
"where is the promise of his coming?" there will be no 
distinction of characters subsequent to the resurrection, and 
there is no period of time especially reserved for the adju- 
dication of the destiny of the world. But notwithstanding 
the pretensions of worldly wisdom, human arrogancy, and 
hoary systems of delusion ; the time, full of wonders, 
amazement, ruin and triumph, will suddenly burst upon a 
risen world, arraigned before the tribunal of heaven. The 
mouldering graves will be pillaged, the bolted charnel-house 
will be broken open, and the green tumultuous billows of 
the ocean, will be rolled back from their lasting beds, and 
the dead shall come forth to judgment; their character 
searehed, their hope tested and their destiny sealed. To 



404 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

briii£ forth piety in its true glory and excellence ; to show- 
up sin and rebellion in their naked deformity and unreason- 
ableness ; and to vindicate the government and providence 
of God to universal satisfaction— it is indispensable to 
transact the business, and conduct the proceeding of the 
Final Court of heaven, with publicity, and before the gaze 
of a world's assembled intelligences. 

The prevailing opinions of Universalists, in reference 
to the Judgment of God, are antagonistic to the views gen- 
erally entertained by the orthodox and the world. This 
doctrine has not escaped their pruning knife, any more than 
those we have already considered. It will be seen, that 
the system of Universalism, assumes an attitude of entire 
revolution in the province of theology, as heretofore main- 
tained and taught — all the world, the learned divine and 
sound philosopher, have been wrapped in palpable dark- 
ness and disgusting ignorance ; and so the children of men 
would have lived and died, had not in these last days, men 
risen up from apparent obscurity, with little influence and 
but a smattering acquaintance with science and the lan- 
guages, to teach the erring and deluded world, that they had 
drunk in a false and horrid theology. That the entire cate- 
gory of doctrine as taught and defended by the fathers of 
the christian church, (perhaps, the wild, speculative and en- 
thusiastic Origen, excepted,) by Luther and his coadjutors 
in the Reformation, by Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Knapp, 
D wight, Edwards, and a constellation of brilliant divines, 
and by all orthodox people of the present day, is radically 
erroneous, absurd, and a worthy offspring of heathen super- 
stition and mythology. Although, all this is hardly credi- 
ble, yet so Universalism would have all mankind believe, 
and be saved. 

Universalists teach — 

That the judgment began more than 1700 years ago, 



nil ii i ; R] \\i» GENERAL JTTDOMKN i . 

hut there urill be death and tin 

rally and u Uj is this do< hi b) 

the preachers of this faith, and bo universally do they de- 

b judgment aft r d< ath, that 
proof, are not very requisite; however, a few will Dot be 
irrelevant and out o We will take 

E. M. r i his discussion with Mr. Rice, holds 

the following language in his exposition of I Cor, ev: 

u The kingdom which the Son is to deliver up to the Father, 

is the kingdom which the Father gave to the Son 1800 

'. when his kingdom was established. He now 

v. and rules, and judges men according to their works. 
When this work is done, all are made pure and holy; then 
his kingdom is to be delivered back to God, and 4 God is to 
be all in all.' M According to Mr. P. the Lord is now judg- 

he world during his mediatorial reign, and as the Sa- 
vior closes this kingdom at the completion of the resurrec- 
tion and surrenders it to God ; therefore there will and can 
be no judgment after the resurrection. But does reason 
teach, that Christ can be our Advocate and Judge at the 
same time? Is this sentiment not in stern conflict with all 
our notions of the character of civil judges, and all civil 
proceeding > The advocate at the bar, cannot at the same 
time be the judge upon the bench. 

D. Skinner, of Utica, N. Y., in reply to A. Campbell, 

in their discussion, p. 369, says: " So far from the judg- 

, R . wii. 11, being the 'final judgment,' 

as you term it, the context clearly shows that it was then, 

ly 1800 years ago,) about to take place, and history 
proves it did. Th< fore it, says, 'the time is at 

hand? and the verse after it, says, ' and behold / come 
quickly and my reward is with me, fee,' •' The connec- 



406 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

tion shows that Mr. S. referred the judgment to the event 
of the destruction of Jerusalem. He asserts that the book 
of the Apocalypse was written prior to the destruction of 
Jerusalem and the Jewish polity, and that all the curses re- 
corded, were mainly realized at that event, and the blessings 
promised were enjoyed in the gospel of Christ. Many of 
the preachers of Universalism, refer the judgment to the 
overthrow of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the religion 
and polity of the Jews ; but others connect it with the en- 
tire mediatorial reign of Christ — sin, judgment and punish- 
ment go hand in hand, throughout the cycle of human exist- 
ence. 

Mr. Eli Ballou, in a discussion with Luther Lee, in 1842, 
expresses his sentiments, as the views of Universalists gen- 
erally, in the following language, " Your mistake consists 
in supposing that there will be sin and punishment after 
Christ gives up his mediatorial reign. He commenced the 
work of judging, rewarding, punishing and saving the 
world, at the establishment or setting up of his kingdom in 
the earth, and this work he will continue, until it is com- 
pleted. Every advance of Christ's kingdom in the world, 
is a part of his second coming, or his appearing in his king- 
dom ; and in my judgment, every text in the New Testa- 
ment which speaks of Christ's coming, as then future, relates 
to his second coming, or "his coming in his kingdom.' " 
Again, " I believe, that when the ' Son of man came in his 
kingdom,' he commenced the w r ork of rendering unto 'every 
man according to his works ; because He then became the 
judiciary and executive authority of God's moral govern- 
ment." "At that time, [destruction of Jerusalem,] Christ 
commenced judging the world, and ' all nations' were then 
put under his retributive administration, and he will con- 
tinue to judge, or reign in his kingdom until all enemies 
are subdued to him, &c." We learn from Eli Ballou that 



TI! \M» GEN] R \i. ii Im. IJ \ | . 10*3 

I M i j t irsalism teach< b. I . That the Becond coming of Christ 
took place at the destruction of J< rusali m. 2. That the 
kingdom of Chi the time Jerusalem and 

the Jewish polity, were overthrown. .'*. That then Christ 

i to judge and furnish the Wprjd and i VI /// mc 

ing to justice and their works. 1. That the judgment of 
God wiD close when, and certainly then,) the mediatorial 
q of Christ shall terminate. 
A. C. Thomas, in the " Lowell Discussion," in noticing 
he position of Luther Lee, says: "Your first letter, is 
devoted to the proof of the two positions : 1st. That there 
wiH be a day of judgment after ihe resurrection; and 2d. 
Thai there will be punishment in the immortal resurrection 
Now I deny both these doctrines, &c." " You 
it [the judgment] at the close or delivering up of the 
kingdom at the resurrection, whereas I have proved that it 
belongs to the beginning or setting up of his kingdom." 
"That it [the judgment] belongs to the beginning or set- 
ting up of Christ 1 s kingdom — and to its progress, and not 
to its consummation." It will be perceived, that Messrs. 
Pingree, Skinner, Eli Ballou, and Thomas, harmonize in 
their views, in their rejection of the doctrine of the judg- 
ment after the resurrection, and in maintaining that the 
judgment began with the commencement of the gospel dis- 
pensation, which they date at the destruction of Jerusalem, 
and that it will continue with the progress of the media- 
torial kingdom of Christ. We might add the testimony of 
Hosea Ballou, Balfour, Whittemore, O. A. Skinner, Wil- 
liamson, Sawyer, &c; but it is not necessary. There ap- 
- no greater agreement on any doctrine of Universalism, 
than in holding, that the judgment of God is carried on in 
time, and that every one is rewarded and punished in this 
life. 



408 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 
THEIR PROOFS. 

1. All the passages which speak of the coming of Christ, 
which announce threatening and wrath, and those which 
speak of rewards, of life and blessedness, have particular 
reference to the setting up and progress of Christ's king- 
dom on earth, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jew- 
ish polity, and to the blessings of the gospel economy. 
Thus they sweep away with one broad assertion, the entire 
chain of proof and divine testimony, which has usually 
been relied upon to establish and defend the doctrine of a 
Final and General Judgment. Many of those passages 
we have already considered, and defended their designed 
and appropriate application, which we need not repeat in 
this place. It has always been and ever will be a fruitless 
task, to harmonize the Scriptures with the views of Univer- 
salists relative to the judgment. 

2. They appeal to a few passages directly to sustain the 
doctrine, that Christ began to judge the world at the begin- 
ning of his gospel kingdom, and not at the consummation 
of that kingdom. 

2 Tim. iv. 1. "I charge thee therefore before God and 
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the 
dead at his appearing and his kingdom" This passage 
is quoted by Universalists, to prove that the beginning of 
the kingdom of the gospel and of the judgment, commenced 
at the same time, and progress together. The following is 
the comment of Abel C. Thomas on the passage, " The 
passage plainly treats of Christ's appearing as a judge, at 
the date of his appearing as a king. The reference is to 
the beginning or appealing of his kingdom, and not to its 
closing scenes. He was to act in the capacity of a judge 
4 at his appearing and his kingdom, &c.' " There are in- 
superable objections to the interpretation and use of the 
above passage, as made by Universalists. 



THE n ri i: 1 .\M» ci'M'.i: \1. .11 D0MEN1 , I0!> 

1. The Lime spoken of by Paul was still future, whei 
if Christ began to judge and reward the world at the set- 
ting up of his mediatorial kingdom, then the work had al- 
ready been in operation for more than 30 years. We are 
aware thai Qniversalists assume the position, that the king- 
dom was set up or commenced at the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, but this needs proof. If at any particular time 
Christ began to act as Mediator, it was immediately after 
Burredtion : for he says, " All power is given unto me 
in heaven and in earth." Matth. xxviii. 18. Then he 
1 to reign in his mediatorial kingdom ; and all the 
power and authority of the kingdom were conferred upon 
him by the Father — "all things are delivered unto me of 
my Father ;" (Matth. xi. 27,)- and no where is it stated that 
owned a king, and elected as a. judge, at the des- 
truction of Jerusalem. In Rom. xiv. 9, we learn how 
Christ became entitled to this kingdom: " For to this end 
Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be 
Lord both of the dead and living.' ' " This he actually as- 
sumed before Jerusalem was destroyed, for we read 1 Pe- 
ter iii. 22 : " Who is gone into heaven and is on the right 
hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being 
made subject unto him." 

If the judgment began with the gospel dispensation, then 
the gospel era had not yet commenced, when Paul wrote 
his second epistle to Timothy, about 65 years after the birth 
of Christ ; for the time he alludes to was still future, when 
Christ "shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing and 
his .kingdom." But this era of grace and gospel refresh- 
ed long since begun; even in the days of Christ's 
nal efforts, "the kingdom of heaven suffered violence 
and the violent took it by force;" and in the day of Pen- 
tecost, the prophecy of the outpouring of the diving spirit 
was realized as a gospel blessing; and the partition wall 



410 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

between the Jew and Gentile was broken down and tbe 
people were justified and made one family unto God by 
faith. Then the setting up of the gospel kingdom was not 
referred to by Paul in 2 Tim. iv. 1 ; but another event in 
which Christ shall judge the living and dead. The reader 
may peruse and collate the following passages, teaching the 
kingdom of Christ: Ps. ii. 6; lxxxix. 19; ex. 1 — 3, Is. 
ix. 6, 7. Dan. vii. 14. Luke i. 32. John xvii. 2. Eph. 
i. 20, 21. Heb. ii. 8. Rev. xi. 15. 

2. "At his appearing and his kingdom," as used in the 
text, does not necessarily refer to the setting up, or begin- 
ning of the gospel kingdom ; but to the appearing of Christ 
at the end of the world, and to the full extension and estab- 
lishment of his kingdom. We have already given one in- 
controvertible reason, why it must refer to an event subse- 
quent to the beginning of the gospel economy, for a different 
period of time is referred to. At the time of the appearing 
of Christ and at his kingdom, Christ shall be Judge and 
arraign before his .tribunal, the quick and dead, or the whole 
human race. These scenes will transpire at the same time 
or in swift succession. What is therefore to be understood 
by the phrase, " his appearing ?" The term "appearing" 
is used in various passages, and in such connections as pre- 
clude the possibility of referring to the setting up of his 
kingdom. It implies his " second coming" and that is still 
future. 2 Thess. ii. 8. " Then shall that Wicked be re- 
vealed, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness 
of his coming" — literally by his appearing. All respect- 
able Biblical interpreters refer this passage to the downfall 
and overthrow of Roman Catholicism ; this wicked Power 
shall be destroyed at the appearing of Christ ; but this Ro- 
man Beast still reigns and sits in the temple of God, there- 
fore the second coming of Christ is still in the future. Had 
the second coming of Christ taken place at the beginning 



1 HI. 1 I I 1 i.l AM» QEN ENT. HI 

of the mediatorial • >r, then the Roman 

Beast would have been d< ted, which 

mrd, 

Paul exhorts Timothy, (1 Tim. vi. 14.) " That thou keep 
ommandment without spot, untebukable, until the ap- 
; our Lord Jesus Christ.* 4 Paul still antici] 
the appearing of Christ, hut [Jniversalists put it in the past. 
Titus ii. 13. M Looking for that blessed hope, and the glori- 
ous appearing of the great God and pur Savior Jesus Christ.* 1 
Apostle looked forward to the tiine, when his race 
should be run, his battle fought, and his faith perfected ; and 
then he expected to lay hold on the crown of glory, as the 
reward of fidelity to he bestowed by Christ the righteous 
Judge, and all others should likewise he rewarded who 
Loved his appearing at that day — the day of judgment. 
(3 Tim. iv. 7. 8.) 

The appearing of Christ refers to his second coming, 
and all rules of interpretations which would make his first 
coming literal and personal, will, when applied, teach his 
second appearing as liter cd and personal. The same rea- 
sons exist for the latter, which exist for the former. 

M And his kingdom." Christ came into the world, he 
has sent forth his proclamation of submission and mercy, 
and the Spirit is still convicting of sin, of righteousness and 
of Judgment ; all this had a view to the establishment of 
the kingdom of Christ on earth — the beginning is made, 
but the completion is still in the future. And when fully 
established, it will be manifest to the universe. The saints 
shall be purified, his enemies be made his footstool, and 
death and the empire of the grave vanquished ; then shall 
"his kingdom" be finished, and that feature of it which is 
mediatorial, shall he surrendered to God, or be abrogated, 
and the Savior's kingly dominion shall have no end. Paul 
11 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. 



112 THi: FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

<fcc. — But now we see not yet all things put under him. M 
(Heb. ii. 8.) This kingdom is not yet completed, but it 
will be at the second appearing of Christ, the great God, 
when he shall judge the living and dead. 

3. Christ cannot judge the living and the dead until his 
mediatorial reign shall be terminated. The living, those 
who are alive on the earth, and the dead, those who are 
held by the empire of death, when the second appearing of 
Christ shall take place, all will be judged by him ; but be- 
fore the dead can be judged, they must be raised, therefore 
the time of his appearing, and his kingdom, and the Judg- 
ment, will be at, and after the resurrection. 

However, Universalists intimate that the living and the 
dead refer to the spiritually alive, or the christian, and to 
the mo rally dead or the sinner ; and for proof they cite 
1 Peter iv. 5, 6. M Who shall give account to him that is 
ready to judge the quick and dead. For, for this cause 
was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, &c." 
The apostle addressed christians and the elect of God, 
through sanctiflcation of the spirit and obedience, and spoke 
of the contumely they endured in consequence of their 
strict piety ; but their motives, principles and life would be 
vindicated and justified when they should render up their 
stewardship to Christ, who is well prepared and qualified 
to judge the human race — not the then living only, but also 
all the dead, including the rational and accountable world. 
That those, who are already dead, might also be judged 
with the living, they had the gospel also preached to them. 
Those dead who had the gospel preached unto them while 
living, shall be judged by Christ by the rule of the gospel, 
and those who died under the law and those who only en- 
joyed the light of nature, shall be judged by the truths and 
light they had, but all shall stand in the Judgment. 

It is unquestionable, that the phrase, "the living and the 



I ii \M> OKNEB \I. .11 ix. Ml. NT. J L9 

refers only to the living on the earth and the a 
ally dead. Ii is s<» used and understood by Paul; (Bom. 
xiv. !).) and by the angels M Why seek ye the living among 
the dead ." Luke wiv. 5.) 

1. It is inconsistent for Chris! to be the Mediator, Id 
and Judge, al the same nine He came tin 
time, to save the world, therefore he eame to mediate and 
advocate our cause; and not to condemn the world, hence 
he did not assume the character and tribunal of the Ji 
John iii. 17. " For (l^d sent not his Sou into the world to 

condemn tJie world; but that the world, through him might 

ved." lie must first needs judge before he can con- 
demn ; but this was not his purpose, for while he stands 
forth as Mediator and Savior, lie cannot be the Judge. When 
uiomv of redemption shall end, and Christ shall con- 
quer all his iocs beneath his feet and break the empire of 
death, then he shall display at his second coming the 
power and glory of his kingdom, and judge the world in 
teousness. 

Another portion of Scripture on which Universalists 
greatly rely to prove the Judgment at the beginning, and 
not at the consummation of the kingdom of Christ on earth, 
is found recorded in Matth. xvi. 27, 28. " For the Son of 
man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, 
and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 
Verily, I say unto you, There be some standing here which 
shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming 
in his kingdom." The reader may refer to the parallel 
passages as recorded by the other Evangelists, teaching 
mainly the same sentiments, with a little variation of lan- 
guage. Mark viii. 38 ; ix. 1. Luke ix. 26, 27. 

Universalists use the passage, "There be some standing 
here, &c." as the key to interpret this Scripture, and apply 
it to the destruction of Jerusalem, which was overthrown 



414 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

in the life-time of some who heard Christ ; and as the 
coming of Christ is spoken of in connection, therefore they 
infer that He came to Judgment at the same time. The 
description in Matth. xxv., of the coming of Christ in glory 
and with the holy angels, they interpret in the same man- 
ner and apply it to the same event. Hence, it appears that 
Matth. xvi. 27, 28. is their starting point, and the founda- 
tion of their theory of the Judgment. Different commenta- 
tors apply the passages to different events — some to the 
overthrow of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity, while others 
disconnect the passages, and apply verse 26 to the end of 
the world and the final Judgment, and verse 27 to the full 
development and spread of the gospel. We shall venture 
our views -in as condensed a space as possible^ and yet 
cover sufficient ground to develop the truth. 

1. The import of the kingdom of God. 

Whenever it is called the kingdom of God, it has -refer- 
ence to God as its author ; or of Christ, it refers to him as 
the administrator of the kingdom ; or of heaven, as di- 
vine and spiritual in contrast with the kingdoms of the 
earth. That system of law, government and administration 
which God has instituted, and is constantly administering 
over the limits of his empire, is called a kingdom. It 
affects the general movements of the inanimate creation, it 
includes and directs divine providences, and extends its 
truths, inducements and persuasions over the rational world. 
To govern and promote the happiness of accountable intel- 
ligences, was the chief object of the institution, and is still 
the grand design of the administration of the kingdom of 
God. The reins of government, placed in the hands of the 
Messiah, were designed to control the whole machinery of 
the Universe — all authority and right to rule in heaven and 
earth, were given to Christ. All the arrangements, instru- 



ni\ \ i i pi i. w i' N r. 115 

mentalities and agencies of this kingdom fcre surrendered 

i!\d arc at his disposal — Me God is rm- 

nfested in Christ, as the Supreme Ruler of 
liverse, In the d apartment of that kingdom which 

develops the system o( grace, and has in contemplation the 
ration and restoration of our apostate race, upon the 
condition of faith in Christ, has distinct and various instru- 
mentalities and agencies under the special appointment and 
control of Christ, as Mediator and Savior. And whenever 
these act as designed, Christ is manifested and should be 
I upon as acting. When truth is revealed, it is re- 
vealed by Christ — when divine providences pervade the 
earth, they are the representatives of Christ — when the 
try of the gospel, and Spirit of heaven operate, they 
are under the sanction of Christ. The Son of man, in 
view of his suffering and death and the moral worth of his 
labor to the Universe, became entitled to all this honor, 
regal dignity, universal homage, and supreme authority. 
As the Sovereign Potentate of the Universe, all things which 
transpire within the limits of his boundless province, are 
either brought about by the agents of his appointment and 
control, or by his Sovereign permission in the constitution 
and arrangement of his empire and kingdom. (For there is 
freedom of will, wherever will is found.) This view of the 
kingdom of Christ will facilitate a comprehension of the 
"coming of Christ/' Ep. i. 20—22. Col. i. 15—17. 
1 Peter iii. 22. John xiii. 3. John xvii. 2. 

2. The coming of Christ, as used in the Scriptures. 
As Christ possesses all power and authority in heaven and 
earth, being Head of the church and moral Governor of the 
world, he employs agencies in the execution of his plans, 
whether in the bestowment of blessings or in the exercise 
of vengeance; and whenever those agencies are operative, 
they manifest the will of Christ, embody the idea of 
18 



416 THE FUTUR£ AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

" his coming." Hence, the coming of Christ is applied to 
different events ; however, not rendering- nugatory his per- 
sonal coming at the end of the world. It is sometimes ap- 
plied to death when closing human existence on earth ; 
(Matth. xxiv. 44;) to the destruction of Jerusalem in break- 
ing it with the rod of authority and displeasure ; (xxiv. 27;) 
to the introduction and preaching of the gospel by himself 
and his ministers; (John xv. 22. Ep. ii. 17;) when his 
church or kingdom is powerfully developed, rapidly ex- 
tended and gloriously established on the earth ; (Matth, 
xvi. 28. 1 Thess. i. 5;) when he bestows the influences 
of the Spirit and the comfort of the gospel upon his people ; 
(John xiv. 18 — 23;) and when he pours scathing ruin upon 
the wicked inhabitants of the earth. (2 Thess. ii. 8.) Wher- 
ever divine agencies are at w r ork, there the presence of God 
is manifested, and rightly represent his coming. 

All these are metaphorical representations of Christ's 
lag ; and do not preclude his coming at the end of the 
world any more than the sacrifices and temple-service of 
the Jews, neutralized and obviated the necessity of the Sa- 
vior's first personal appearance. These were prefigurative 
of the coming and the sacrificial death of Christ, so the 
figurative coming of Christ under the gospel in rewards and 
judgments, symbolizes his appearance at the end of the me- 
diatorial reign, to reward and crown his saints, and punish 
unbeliev 

Christ shall visibly and personally return from heaven 
and appear to the world, (Acts i. 11,) — he shall descend 
from heaven with angels, with a shout and the trump of 
God, (I Thess. iv. 16,) — not as a sacrifice, but as a re warder 
of his saints, (Heb. ix. 28,) — and every eye shall see him. 
(Rev. i. 7.) But now he has ascended to the right hand 
of God, to intercede, to reign, and to subdue his foes; and 
he cannot return until the gospel kingdom shall come to a 



nil. i i i i Ki. \\!> (.1 NKRAL .ii DGMEN1 • 117 

. 20, 21. "And In shall tend Jesus Christ, 
which before waa preach >m the In i 

iiuisi receive [retain] until [achri, > times 

dtution of nil I ." While th< of re- 

or the times of restitution, (verse 21,) 
or the tunes of reformation, (Heb. Lx, L0 f ) shall last or en- 
dure, being the gospel dispensation, the Lord Jesus who 
came into the world, died, was preached and ascended to 
11 visibly and personally, must remain there until the 
dose of his mediatorial reign, and then he shall return viair 
bly upon the clouds of heaven, surrounded with myriads of 
myriads of angels, iu great power and glory, to judge the 
world and destroy the disobedient from among his people. 
23.) This will be the coming of the Son of man as 
t. xm. 27. xxv. 31 — 46. 2 Thess. i. 
7 — io, etc. 

3. What event is alluded to in Matth. xvi. 27? Was it 
etion of Jerusalem; or is it the end of the world 
when Christ shall judge and reward every man according 
to his works ? 

Though there was & providential appearing of Christ at 

the destruction of Jerusalem, a shadowing forth of his 

power and vengeance, yet he did not then come with his 

" holy angels," (Mark viii. 38,) and in the "glory of the 

r," in his "own glory," and the "glory of his holy 

." (Luke ix. 26.) The Romans were not holy, for 

were heathens and worshiped abominations ; therefore 

could not be represented by "holy angels," should 

human messengers be meant by angels, as sometimes they 

are by way of accommodation. It could not be the glory 

of the Father to crush and scatter a nation to the four winds 

of heaven in groans, in wailing, in blood and carnage. It 

could not be the glory of Christ, who tenderly prc<t 

the broken reed, and who "came not to destroy men's lives, 



418 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

but to save them," (Luke ix. 56,) and who wept tears of 
condolence over the doomed city, to send an infuriated sol- 
diery to pillage, and slay, and make as mouldering heap of 
ruins of the renowned metropolis of the land, with its doom- 
ed inhabitants. Nor was it the glory of his holy angels, 
who are ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. In 
consequence of these qualifying adjuncts to the coming of 
Christ as taught in the text, it cannot predict the develop- 
ment and execution of wrath of the kingdom of Christ, in 
the overthrow of the city of the Jews, and the abrogation of 
their civil and ecclesiastical government. 

But there is another important circumstance which in- 
terdicts the idea of its reference to that event. The Son of 
man, at his coming as taught in the text, "shall reward 
every man according to his works." It w r as not possible 
for this administration of justice to all men to take place, 
for all men were not there. The good w^ere not all re- 
warded, unless the Roman army included all the good, and 
the wicked were not all punished, unless the Jews in the 
city comprised all the bad. Millions of the human race 
and hundreds of generations were still reposing in death, 
and millions more had as yet no existence. The reasoning 
advanced stultifies common sense, matter of fact, and every 
logical deduction. 

The fact, too stubborn and decisive to be rejected, will 
ever stand forth in attestation of the. truth, that all the ad- 
ministrations of Christ's kingdom were never designed in 
this world to adequately reward the good, and justly punish 
the bad. In the kingdom and providence of God, we can 
not' discern between the righteous and wicked, the desert of 
piety and the demerit of crime — the pious suffer pain, afflic- 
tion and persecution, and the ungodly flaunt in silks, roll 
in affluence, ride in splendor, rule with despotism, blas- 
pheme with apparent impunity, and are applauded as gods, 



l hi i i I i k! AND OBNERAJ N i I I 

and die with ihe synipathy <>i' thousands. Eternity alone 
right these things. 

Tlie context forbids the application <>t' the text to the des- 
truction of Jerusalem. In verses ~i — 26, the Saviour 
holds up in contrast the losing of life and the saving of 
lij\\ this world and the future world, the bleasedriet 
professing Christ, and the misery of rejecting the gospel. 
He who will save his natural life by disowning ( 'hrist, shall 
blessed existence in the future world, and he who 
will sacrifice his life here for the sake of religion, shall save 
his soul in heaven. There is no exchange for the final loss 
of the soul. This was the Saviour's argument and dis- 
course. It was a great sacrifice and self-denial to be a 
christian, yet to pour comfort into the disconsolate heart of 
his people, he promises to vindicate the right, reward the 
worthy, and crown his people with the glory of his king- 
dom. He, the Saviour, will come in clouds and glory, 
with power and myriads of angels, to elevate on high his 
followers, and revenge their blood and life shed by the hands 
of persecutors, on the altars of gory gibbets, and in groan- 
ing prisons. 

The discourse of Christ can have no allusion to the catas- 
trophe of Jerusalem, but alone to his second coming to 
judge the world in righteousness. This interpretation is 
the most natural, obvious and the only reconcilable one. 

As the natural and obvious meaning of verse 27, can 
only be answered in the coming of Christ in the Judgment- 
day ; so the natural interpretation of v. 28, must apply it to 
an event preceding the Judgment. "Verily, there be some 
standing here who shall not taste of death, till they see the 
Son of man coming in his kingdom." It is declared in the 
text, that the time of his coining in his kingdom will be 
prior to the death of some whom he then addressed; there- 
fore, this passage cannot refer to his coming in the Judg- 



420 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

ment. At what particular preceding time or event is not 
specified, only it should be in the life-time of some standing 
there. This passage speaks of his coming in his kingdom, 
while the former says nothing of his kingdom, but with his 
angels and in his Father's glory. There is as obvious a 
difference in phraseology as there is in their import. — 
Christ's kingdom has three distinct ideas. It is a govern- 
ment over all things— oxer the rational .world, (Ep. i. 21,) 
— and over the church (v. 22;) and in this latter sense the 
kingdom of God was entered by those who had zeal and 
were in earnest in the days of John Baptist ; and in this 
kingdom of God, no vile or idolatrous person shall ever enter. 
(Ep. v. 5. Col. i. 13.) 

Whether the Saviour had particular reference to the mani- 
festation and powerful extension of his kingdom over the 
world in evangelizing it, or to his kingdom as exercised 
"over all flesh," (John xvii. 2,) the rational world, which 
afforded room for dispensing temporal and spiritual bless- 
ings, and public calamities and judgments, is not easily de- 
cided. It may include the overthrow of Jerusalem and the 
dispersion of the Jew r s as the foes of his kingdom ; but it 
seems more natural to apply it to some preceding events, 
for this reason. If the Saviour addressed his disciplies, for 
aught we know, John w r as the only apostle living at the cat- 
astrophe of Jerusalem, yet the Saviour says some shall not 
taste of death, implying more than one. In reading the 
passage and what follows as recorded by Matthew, Mark 
and Luke, the candid reader would naturally infer, that the 
Saviour spoke relative to his transfiguration on the mount. 
This was a splendid and overwhelming manifestation of 
the glory of Christ's kingdom. It doubtless includes the 
day of Pentecost, and the subsequent development and 
spread of the gospel. 

This is natural. As the Great Teacher had been speak- 



l.i NT. 

for ! mi, the disciple* mi 

[, that, in \ iew of the infurii orld, all 

ild >oon fall victims to p 
Christ himself; but he intimates, that this shall no 
, ! of them sh mid not die before the; 
the triumph of this kingdom, 

. thai Chi 
i to its priii 
thei y for men to oppose and attempt to des- 

110 other consistent way to explicate this 
id to us it appears entirely satisfactory and con- 
It' it has dispersed all doubt and obscurity from 
\ we are prepared to state some direct 
proof of a fu general Judgment 

1. The Judgment will be literal and not a mere feint — 

all figure and metaphor — the appearance and not the reality. 

The Judgment, which shall investigate the character and 

termine the destiny of the children of men, will be a real 

3 ion. There will be a Judge, an assembled world, 

a ^ of human character, and appointment of the 

each individual. That metaphors and high- 

t figures are employed to describe the scenes and 

tions of that Day, is undeniable ; and instead of 

iey are used to heighten the majesty 

iphically to describe the substance of all 

re and powers of description are 

ad. o( inspiration and of God. 

piritual 
w with dread reality, and all the natural 

mute it, a day of i 
of time. 
renre of the Judgment, 



4'i*J I HE FUTURE AND OENSRAL JIDUMKN1. 

need but appeal to the apostle Peter, for he amply sustains 

this doctrine in his second epistle and in the third chapter, 
where he records a comparison between the Flood and the 
Judgment. Though infidels scoff and deride the promise 
of the coming of the Lord, nevertheless it will be as certain, 
and as real, as the flood which swept the antediluvians from 
the face of the earth. It cannot be interpreted metaphori- 
cally, but the record of the moving scenes of the " day of 
Judgment and perdition of ungodly men," must be under- 
stood as a literal description, in the words of prophecy, of 
the final destruction of this mundane system, and the closing 
of the mysteries of God upon earth. It is true, that some 
expositors of the word of God, refer the prophetical ac- 
count to some awful earthly calamity ; to Jerusalem, or 
some national affliction ; and they introduce as parallels and 
confirmatory of their position the prophetical accounts of 
the destruction of Idumea, of Egypt, and of Jerusalem by the 
Romans. The highly figurative language there employed de- 
picts awful catastrophes ; but the very language shows that it 
is to be understood metaphorically. 46 All the hosts of heaven 
shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled together 
as a scroll," they shall fall as the falling leaf and fig from the 
fig tree ; (Is. xxxiv. 4 ;) the stars, the sun and moon shall be 
darkened and be covered with a thick cloud, and they shall 
refuse their shining when Egypt shall become the monu- 
ment of the wrath of God; (Ez. xxxii. 7 ;) the invasion of 
the land of Judea and the overthrow of Jerusalem, as pro- 
phesied by Joel, are couched in language sublime, moving 
and highly metaphorical. The approach of the Roman 
army is represented as causing the earth to quake before 
them and the heavens to tremble, the sun and moon to throw 
around themselves the vesture of darkness, and the stars to 
refuse their shining; (Joel ii. 10 ;) he will show wonders in 
the heavens above, and on earth, blood, fire, and pillars of 



rui: FUTURE wi> GENERAL JUDGMENT. 129 

smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness and die moon 
into blood, before Ihe great and terrible day of tin; Lord. 
- :jo, 81.) Now all such descriptions are impossibili- 
hen literally understood, or at least altogether improb- 
able ; and historical farts prove thai there was no literal ful- 
fillment o( such language in the overthrow of the land of 
Idumea, therefore the language was to be understood figu- 
ratively. Hut this is not the case with the prophecy of 
Peter relative to the destruction of the elemental fabric of 
the earth, in tin 1 "day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly 
men." The comparison is between the Flood and the 
Judgment, as the former was a literal occurrence, so the 
latter will he — the earth was destroyed by a flood of water, 
but the heavens and the earth, that now are, are reserved to 
be burned with fervent heat. The heavens, or atmosphere 
shall pass away with a great noise, being decomposed, and 
the electric fires glowing and rolling their storming thunders 
around creation ; the elements of the earth and the works 
of men's hands shall melt as in a glowing furnace — thus 
after the heavens and the earth are dissolved, and have 
passed away, the Lord will reorganize a new heaven and 
a new earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness. As this 
earth, inclosed with the present atmosphere, contains sin, 
rebellion, pollution, and is trodden by an ungodly race ; so 
the new earth, with the circumambient heavens, shall be 
the abode of truth, holiness and perennial happiness, and 
be ever pressed with the footsteps of a holy and sanctified 
people. 

The comparisons drawn and the descriptions given, am- 
ply fortify the doctrine, that " the day of Judgment and 
perdition of ungodly men," will be a literal and bona fide 
event — the event itself, th I lending and the 

results experienced, will transpire in or< ad re- 

*18 



424 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

ality as portrayed in lively colors by the unerring pen of 
inspiration. 

2. The Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly 
men shall take place after the resurrection of the dead. 

The final Judgment of God cannot take place during the 
administrations of grace and the moral government of Christ 
on earth. 1. This world is not the theatre of the equal 
and adequate distribution of justice to the children of men 
— the righteous are frequently the subjects of affliction, pain 
and adversity, while the wicked flourish and revel in prosper- 
ity ; the most hardened and the vilest of the wicked have 
less compunction of conscience, and are less sensitive, than 
those who indulge in sin with some restraint and moderation. 
The Justice of God will demand an occasion to dispense 
rewards and punishments with an even hand, conspicuously 
and to the satisfaction of the Universe of intelligences. — 

2. In this world the character, works and influence of men 
cannot be adjusted, for much of what they have done on 
earth will exert an influence on mankind, long after they 
lie in the slumbers of death, for weal or wo. The influence 
of men of former generations is still sweeping down the cur- 
rent of time, laving its genial waters along the fruitful 
shores of life, or blasting the blooming flowers of bliss and 
saturating the moral atmosphere with a deadly miasma. — 
A Judgment, at the end of time, and exercising exact and 
ultimate scrutiny over an assembled world, is indispensable. 

3. The Scriptures represent the transactions of the Judg- 
ment as taking place at the end of the world and after the 
resurrection of the dead. The Bible represents individuals 
and nations, and people who had long before gone to the 
grave, as standing in the Judgment with men of other gen- 
erations, consequently they must first be raised from the 
dominion of death before they can be judged." "It shall 
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah 



TH1 NT. 

in the day of judgment than for that city." Matth. x. 15. 

hall be more tolerable for the land pf Sodom than" for 

;;y oi Capernaum, xi. 23. 24. Bo also shall the 

Queen of Sheba ami the men oi' Ninevah "rise up in 

the judgment to condemn this generation;" and in order to 

do so they must first arise from the dead, therefore the 
Judgment will he after the resurrection. (Luke xi. 31, 32.) 

The world will be judged at an appointed timt % and that 
time is represented as future, "For God shall bring (not 
has and docs bring) every work into judgment" (Ec. xii. 
14,) M For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of 
Christ." (2 Cor. v. 10.] Not we do all appear, but we 
musty which shows the Judgment to be in the future. — 
Universalis ts say, that Christ became the Judge and Exec- 
utor of God's moral government at the destruction of Jeru- 
salem ; if so, then it must follow, either that Christ will 
not judge the world, and that there must have been two 
judges, one to judge the people before the destruction of 
Jerusalem and Christ to judge the people at that event and 
subsequently to the end of time; or else the Judgment is 
still future and will take place after the general resurrection. 
But Christ is represented as the Judge of the world. " He 
appointed a day in which he will judge the icorld in right- 
eousness." Acts. xvii. 31. He shall judge him at the last 
day." John xii. 48. " In the day when God shall judge," 
(Rom. ii. 16;) "the judgment of the great day ; (Jude vi ;) 
" to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be pun- 
ished." (2 Peter ii. 9.) 

These Scriptures prove that there will be a final and gen- 
eral Judgment at the end of the world and subsequent to 
the general resurrection of the dead. This excludes the 
notion, from the category of Scriptural doctrines, that the 
judgment has been or runs parallel with time, and that 
everu man is fully rewarded according to his works in the 
earth. 



426 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

3. The Lord Jesus will be the Judge of all mankind. 
A few quotations will substantiate this point. "Christ both 
died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of 
the dead and living." Rom. xiv. 9. "The Lord Jesus 
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his ap- 
pearing and his kingdom." 2 Tim. iv. 1. " To testify that 
it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick 
and dead." Acts x. 42. "The Son of man shall come in 
his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations." — 
Matth. xxv. 31,32. " The Father judge th no man, but 
hath committed all judgment to the Son." John v. 22." — 
In the day when God shall Judge the secrets of men, by 
Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." Rom. ii. 16. Ac- 
cording to the economy of grace, the work of judging the 
world is assigned to the Son; (Rom. xiv. 9, 10. Acts xvii. 
31 ;) who will be revealed from heaven at that stirring and 
unprecedented crisis, in his human nature; (John v. 27;) 
clothed with resplendent glory and armed with omnipotent 
power ; (1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. 2 Thess. i. 7—10;) visible to 
every eye, and to the mourning tribes of the earth ; Rev. i. 7 ; 
penetrating and making manifest the secrets and counsels of 
the heart and disclosing the hidden things of darkness; (1 Cor. 
iv. 5. Rom. ii. 16 ;) with dominion and full authority over 
all flesh ; (Matth. xxviii. 18;) and conducting the Judgment 
with strict justice and righteousness. (2 Tim. iv. 8. Acts 
xvii. 31.) 

"And hath given him authority to execute judgment also 
because he is the Son of man.''' (John v. 27.) The Son 
of God became the Son of man, that he might execute the 
plan of redemption by his death and resurrection, and that 
he might judge the human race. He is the Judge of the world, 
because he is the son of man: he assumed human nature. This 
was necessary from the nature of things. If every eye shall 
see him, he must be clothed with humanity; if the Judge upon 
the throne shall be a reality and not a shadow or illusion, lie 



in I N BR \i. Ji D(.Mi:\ i . 127 

i of man. It' the world is to be fudged, the 
ul, and the hidden * 
hind the unpenetrable curtain ofdarknt si d, then the 

. without controversy, must be "God manifest in 

the flesh. 91 It* it be requisite for acquitted saints to fall be- 
fore the throne and pour forth a choral song of praise to 
nr and Deliverer, it would seem importanl to ha?e 

ntenoe of acquittal pronounced, and the seal of the 
pprobation given by Christ as Judge, to excite and 
tlirill the bosoms of the unnumbered millions of the redeem- 
ed, with feelings and emotions corresponding to the work. 
If it is requisite tor the saints to realize and comprehend the 
true dignity of the nature and character of Christ, they 
must witness him coming upon the clouds of heaven, with 
the attendant millions of the sons of light, arraigning the 
world before his tribunal — the mocked and despised Gali- 
lean to sit upon a throne of pellucid glory, wielding the 
sword of Justice, as keen as light, to reward and adjudge 
Pilate and Herod with their train of scoffers, mock judges 
and perjured witnesses. If the wicked shall adequately 
and keenly feel the atrocity and unreasonableness of their 
rejection of Christ and rebellion against a holy law, 
they must stand before Christ, as a visible Judge, feel to 
their inmost soul the withering and piercing glare of his 
eye, and hear the awful sentence of condemnation and ban- 
ishment fall from those lips, which once offered life and 

Ion with indescribable tenderness. All the world shall 
then see and feel the greatness and reality of the work of 
Christ, in redeeming the lost sons of men, the wise and so- 
ber intention of the entire movements of the economv of 
grace, and the h^inousness of deriding and rejecting life and 
salvation—the justness of the acquittal and coronation of 
saints, and the unimpeachable righteousness of the damna- 
tion of all the ungodly. The condemned, in feeling the in- 



428 Tin; future and general judgment. 

tolerable wrath of the Lamb, who with tenderness and pa- 
tience waited for their return as repenting prodigals, will 
seek and pray for some sheltering place from the face of 
the Son of man, and would gratefully accept the incumbent 
earth with its rocks and mountains ; (Rev. vi. 16, 17 ;)-but 
their supplications are in vain, for nature will not screen 
rebels from its Creator God. The very circumstance, that 
Christ, the crucified, shall sit as Judge upon his throne, 
clothed with royalty, and invested with the concentrated 
power of the eternal kingdom, will enhance the joy and re- 
joicing of the saints, and render more intolerable the doom 
of the wicked. 

4. The Judgment and its circumstances will be atten- 
ded with great po?np and unequaled splendor. 

Revelation has limned the final judgment upon the can- 
vass of the imagination, strengthened and rendered brilliant 
by inspiration ; every circumstance is summoned to the 
train to increase the pomp and accumulate the unsurpassed 
splendors of the day and the occasion. The stupendous 
magnificence of the scene will fill the amplitude of creation 
with wonder and amazement. Days of power, terrible in 
grandeur and fearful in results to the inhabitants of the earth, 
have passed in swift succession over the dial of time. — 
The flood, which terminated the old world, filled the earth 
with electric fires and stunning, pealing thunders, convuls- 
ed the ground and poured the maddened waters in torrents 
and billows in devastation, upon its doomed inhabitants.— 
The communication and enforcement of a holy law from 
Sinai's cloud-capt heights, was a day, terrible and full of 
amazement. Descending and encircling clouds lowered upon 
the earth, surcharged with angry thunders, fire and smoke 
— the mountain quaked beneath the tread of the divine 
Lawgiver, and filled the gazing multitude with astonishment 
and overwhelming apprehensions, while the trumpet was 



Till NT. 429 

louder. The i when the Sa- 

viour i in the ob ■ of Bethleht m, and laid 

in an obscure manger; but it was a day of uncommon 
grandeur and ecstacy, it struck the heavenly hosts with 
thrills of delight and attuned their golden harps with layi 
of redeeming love, filling the air with music sweet, boom- 
ing from the asure and star-bespangled sky; the guiding star 
ami a protecting God attehded die scene. He lived and died, 

and all nature, except hardened and rebellious man, sym- 
pathised iii the ('uncial train. Days of national great- 
mi resistless distinction have followed with conster- 
nation and ruin. Yet the period has not arrived, when 
M (iod made manifest" in humanity, shall pass before the 
gaze of a congregated world in his creating, reigning and 
judicial majesty, when all nature shall unlock her treasured 
honors and pomp, and pour them in royal magnificence into 
the attendant train of the Son of man ; when all the heights 
of glory, crowning excellence, seraphic music, and the com- 
bination of every thing splendid and overwhelming in gran- 
deur, together with tempest, earthquakes, electric fires and 
pealing atmospheric convulsions, appalling terrors and 
blackness of darkness shall commingle in unearthly union, 
and encompass the Judge of all the earth in grand proces- 
sion. This day will comprise every thing grand in splen- 
dor and terrible in aroused vengeance, incomprehensible in 
glorious brightness, and indescribable in utter devastation ; 
for the issue will be creation uncreated, and all congenial ele- 
ments, whether material or immaterial, completely harmon- 
ized and governed by the laws of eternal destiny. 

The dramatic descriptions of that day, include whatever 
is clothed with beauty, terror, greatness, sublimity and over- 
whelming glory, and warrant the conclusion, that it will be 
unparalleled in the annals of time and attended with unsur- 
passed power. i; The Son of man shall come in his glory;" 



430 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

the uncreated glory he had with the Father before the world 
was, and possessed when creation sprung into being with 
life and beauty, and the morning stars sang together for joy; 
and he shall come in the "glory of the Father," invested 
with supreme royalty, unlimited dominion, and embodying 
all the essental attributes of the Godhead ; and in the 
"glory of the holy angels," they will attend his appearing 
in thronging millions, executing his will, gathering his re- 
deemed children from the four quarters of the globe, ap- 
plauding his judgments and rejoicing in every decision ; be- 
cause right and just. Lo ! he shall come environed with 
the clouds of light from the bursting, parting sky, and filling 
in one vast procession the spanning concave, the angel- 
trumpets sounding the reanimating blasts from the trembling 
heavens, and rolling in reverberating thunder along the 
mountains' brow, and through the broken ravines of the 
earth, startling and revivifying the sleeping tenants of the 
grave, the charnel-house and watery-deep ; they arise and 
gaze upon the descending Judge — the earth's Judgment- 
hall is filled with awaiting intelligences, the books are 
opened and all are judged and doomed to their respective 
destiny, the acclamation of praise bursts from the lips of all 
who were sanctified bv the belief of the truth ; and wailing 
despair fills with confusion and everlasting contempt the 
souls of those who obeyed not the gospel of Christ. Then 
the globe shall be encircled with one sheeted blaze, every 
mountain a Sinai, and every lake a boiling caldron, for the 
great day of Assize shall, in scenical exhibitions, reach its 
height of terribleness and grandeur. Ye seraphs bright ! 
lend the fire of your flaming tongues and comprehensive 
powers of mind, to paint in true and adequate colors the ex- 
hibition of the day and scene. But stop ! the day will do 
justice to the occasion before the gaze of the world, aston- 
shed and overwhelmed ! ! 



n> I J i DOM£NT. 48 I 

The Judgment will be conducted upon the principles 

of tU rnal 

The government of God, and the Btate of the universe, 

will demand the full exercise of justice and the equitable 

lution of rewards and punishment. And that feature 

of the Judgment which represents the opening of Books, in 

order to reveal all the works of men, the hidden springs 

and movements of Providence, and an ample justification of 
(iod before an assembled world of intelligences, clearly 

teaches the existence of eternal rectitude in the proceedings 
of the Judgment God represents himself as a "swift wit- 
i list all the workers of iniquity, therefore the 
11 omn ' o( God will disclose the transactions, w r orks 

and influences of men. (Mai. iii. 5.) The book of divine 
remembrance shall be opened to rightly represent and justi- 
fy those who fear the Lord and think with reverence upon 
his name. (iii. 16) The book of conscience will be opened 
that each one may witness against himself, and acquiesce 
in the witness of God. (Rom. ii. 15.) The book of Provi- 
dence shall trace in dread review the mercies offered and 
slighted, perverted and despised, (ii. 4, 5.) The book of 
Revelation, both the gospel and the law, shall be introduced 
in the Judgment, and shall portray the motives, persuasions 
and regulations of the moral government of God. (John xii. 
48. Rom. ii. 12 — 16.) And the book of Life shall be opened, 
and spread before the gaze of the world the registered names 
of the saints and heirs of glory. (John x. 20. Rev. iii. 5. xx. 
12 — 15.) Now, all this would impress the children of 
men, that infallible accuracy and rectitude shall guide the 
proceedings of the Judgment; that every iota of moral ex- 
cellence, and every foible and sin, shall have found a record 
on high, and be again disclosed in deciding the destiny 
of the human family. 

Indeed, so the Scriptures summarily, and decisively de- 
clare. We read in Ecc. xii. 14, "For God shall bring 



432 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether 
it be good, or whether it be evil." The good things and 
the bad actions, purposes and inclinations of men will be 
brought before the judicial tribunal of heaven. The right- 
eousness of the righteous, and the wickedness of the wicked 
shall be investigated — the good things or the bad shall all 
be remembered and brought into the final account. All 
actions shall be judged, to decide whether they are con- 
formable to, or in violation of the will of God. Every se- 
cret, or hidden crime, .or act of benevolence shall be made 
manifest. This will impart a just and righteous character 
to the proceedings of the Judgment. The text does not de- 
clare that every man will be rewarded or punished for every 
action of his* life, as Universalists would argue; but that 
every work shall be brought into judgment. It is necessary 
that all things, whether good or evil, should be brought to judg- 
ment to vindicate the government and providence of God ; but 
many evil deeds will be remembered no more against those 
who committed them, because they have turned from them, 
repented and obtained mercy, and done that which is law- 
ful and right; (Ez. xxxiii. 14* — 16;) and the good deeds of 
many who have forsaken the Lord shall not be presented 
for their justification, and for their iniquity they shall die. 
(Ez. xxxiii. 13.) 

But rectitude will require, that all good and evil deeds, 
with every secret thing, shall be unfolded before the Judge 
of all the earth, to test their comformity to, or violation of 
the divine will, to reveal the holiness of the moral govern- 
ment of God, and equitably to decide the destiny of the 
rational world. It will be found that every action, however 
minute, and every word and thought of the heart, possesses 
moral qualit}^ ; there will be no class of works partaking 
either of no good nor absolutely bad character, for all shall be 
weighed in the scales of divine justice, therefore they must 



l hi: i r n Rl \\ D I JHDOyENT. 

fippear before God, the Judge. Should any actions be left out 
of the account, eternal justice would stay the proceedings, 
the universe whose destiny was pendingmighl rightly protest. 
The law of God exercises its claims and supervision over 
all actions and modifications of-voiuntary movements, how- 
ever apparently insignificant, and strikes its nruii : 
into the depths of the heart ; therefore all dcc(\> musl n 
and p: e the adjudging eye of Jehovah. Nothing 

can justly he missing, all actions will tell and count in the 

of distributive justice — -very idle word shall be i 
Upon every voluntary movement, action and word, either 
the breath o( hell has breathed, or else the spirit of holiness 
id them with its own character — there is nothing 
absolutely insignificant or unimportant in the moral world, 
as well as in the material world. 

Divine rectitude will require the rewards and punish- 
ments to be apportioned according to the deeds done in the 
body, therefore all the deeds of men must be reviewed in 
the Judgment-Day. Should any of the ill-deserts of the 
wicked be left out of the account, the violated law would be 
made to assume its character of righteousness or be vindi- 
cated ; and should any of the virtues of the godly be for- 
gotten, the moral goodness of the world and the relative 
importance and efficacy of grace, in its operation and con- 
flict in this world, would never be fully seen and adequately 
honored. The whole field of moral operation under the 
government of God will be spread out in the Judgment, and 
vital motion connected with the whole, will be seen 
rutinized, while divine light, above the brightness of 
the sun, shall pour its blazing effulgence over the whole, 
and light up every dark retreat and secret thing. No crime 
and ill-desert shall miss just punishment, and no virtue shall 
be unrewarded. The iniquities of the righteous shall be 
covered by the mercy of God, and grace shall stay the vin- 



434 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

dictive blow of divine wrath ; while they shall appear in 
the Judgment, not to condemn and cry for malediction, but 
to magnify grace and mercy in canceling sin and saving the 
soul. The good deeds of the apostates from God shall be 
reviewed, not to plead their justification, but to show the 
aggravation of their sins, in denying the Lord, in the midst 
of light and gospel privileges. Here they will behold the 
intrinsic goodness of right, mercy, and the law of God, in 
view of which and their course of profligacy, their horror 
will grow more terrible, their pain more poignant, their re- 
morse armed with viper-stings, and the inexorable sentence 
of the Judge will assume a deeper emphasis and fall with 
more overwhelming confusion upon their ear, causing their 
irretrievable fate to be the less supportable. All sins un- 
pardoned shall be punished, and the righteousness of the 
righteous shall not lose its reward; yet the degrees of wick- 
edness shall have punishment proportioned in severity and 
intenseness, and not in duration ; so there will be gradations 
in the heights of glory accessible, and in the amount of in- 
tense and solid happiness, and not in duration. One star 
differeth from another star in its glory and brilliancy, so 
shall the reward of the saints be apportioned according to 
their holiness and growth in grace. The wicked shall re- 
ceive stripes as they have committed things worthy of 
stripes. 

Rectitude will not only demand a reward for the least 
virtue, every good thought, wish and even the cup of cold 
water given in the name of a disciple, and the evil eye, the 
lascivious glance, and the omission of duty will be punish- 
ed; but justice will also require that the whole rational 
world shall be gathered together. None of the human fami- 
ly shall be missing or forgotten ; the darkest retreat, the 
solitary cavern, or the incumbent earth shall give way and 
disclose its relics of centuries. Should but one moral being 



nil' FUTURE AM) QfiNftRAl JUDGMENT. 488 

bo wanting there would be an impassable vacuum in the 
world's indictment, Judgment would be waiting for\he ap- 
pearance of thai one before the court of heaven. The clang- 
or of the archangel's trumpet will reanimate the sleeping 
dead, and raise up and assemble die entire race of men — 
all nations and people and tongues of the earth shall await 
the adjudication of the great and notable Day of the Lord. 
And reader, you will be there and judged by eternal recti- 
tude ! Are you prepared? 

0. The Judgment will draw a line of eternal separation 
between the good and the bad, and award them according 
to their moral character. 

A line of demarkation is not so distinctly drawn between 
the righteous and the wicked in this world, at all times and 
places, as to be obvious and undoubted ; but the time will 
come when we shall discern between him that serveth the 
Lord and him that serveth him not. However, the in- 
fluence and tendency of the gospel separate the one from 
another according as they possess moral character. Those 
who possess dispositions and characters congenial, will 
coalesce into one brotherhood — the wicked will join hands 
and move forward in one grand confederacy. This process 
of assimilation and classification will go on, as the gospel 
prevails and secures its ultimate design ; and when once 
the Judgment arrives, then the separation between the pious 
and vicious will be thorough and complete. The Scrip- 
tures speak of such a distinction under various figures ; a 
few of which will be apposite in this place. 

We read " that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, 
that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind : 
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, 
and gathered the good into vessels and cast the bad away. 
So shall it be at the end of the world, the angels shall come 
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, &c>" 



436 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

(Matth. xiii. 47 — 49.) So clear and emphatic is the lan- 
guage of Christ in portraying the final crisis and ultimate 
separation of the wicked from the just, that every candid 
mind must exercise implicit confidence in the doctrine. As 
fishermen let down their net and inclose and draw to shore 
a multitude of fish, both good and bad, but immediately 
separate the good from the bad, putting the good into ves- 
sels and casting the bad away ; so it shall be at the end of 
the world — the swift- winged angels shall encompass the 
habitable globe and gather together all nations before the 
tribunal of heaven, and draw an unerring line of separation 
between the good and the wicked. The scene will be a 
moving one, when the human race shall pass through a 
final separation and classification, associating all congenial 
characters into the two grand divisions of our race ; the 
good shall enter upon the estate of endless blessedness, 
while the wicked shall be banished from the presence and 
saving power of God. Though in this world the tares and 
wheat are sown in the same field and gathered by the same 
instrumentality, yet a decisive and final separation will be 
effected after the vast assembly shall be eompleie, and com- 
prise the rational world — a division based on moral charac- 
ter. The Lord, who shall preside and superintend this 
tremendous scene, will cause to be gathered out of his king- 
dom all things that offend, in order to render unalloyed the 
happiness of the saints, to establish a kingdom upon the 
principles of his holiness and sway his sceptre over an em- 
pire subject and delighting in paying homage to his throne 
" The tares shall be gathered and bound in bundles and 
cast into the fire ; so shall it be at the end of the world.'" 
(Matth. xiii. 40, &c.) While some people are impatiem 
for the coming of Christ, and the separation and destiny ol 
mankind, they forestall the event, and place the Judgment in 
this world, rewarding and punishing mankind as they do 



Tin; KIT! RE \M> GENERAL JUDGMENT. iiJ7 

good or evil; but the Savior declares thai the harvest is 
at the end of the world. The plans and arrangements of 

God arc fixed, and they await the predestined period for 
their fulfilment — the time shall not be precipitated, but 

shall come along in due season. Others disbelieve the 
predicted event of final separation and rewards, and declare 
that the Lord delayeth his coming; but, nevertheless at the 
end of the world, the wicked shall be severed from among 
the just, and he punished as in a furnace of fire, wailing 
and feeling insufferable anguish, and the righteous shall 

as the sun in the firmament. 

might already be inferred, immediately after the 
world's convocation and the classification of the righteous 
and the wicked, their arraignment and conviction, or ap- 
proval; the sentence will be pronounced by Christ and the 

is administered. This last exhibition is portrayed in 
graphic and glowing colors in Matth. xxv. 31 — 46. The 
Son of man shall be revealed from heaven upon the throne 
of his glory, surrounded with myriads of angels on swiftest 
wing to execute the behests of God, beneath his burning 
feet, clouds evolving in mighty folds, and on either hand the 
chariots of vengeance thundering along on the sounding air, 
with lightening's speed, and o'er the immense descending 
procession the spanning concave glowing with inconceivable 
brilliancy and overwhelming light, eclipsing all the accus- 
tomed lights of the mundane sphere. The utmost conster- 
nation and sudden surprise, on the one hand, exulting joy 
and loud hosannah on the other, are excited in the bosoms of 
th< respective classes of the righteous, and unholy. The 
silence suppressed momentarily, is broken, and the scene is 
overwhelming. The billows of the deep roll up and send 
forth the reanimated dead, the graveyards tremble and break 
with earthquake convulsions, and the rising dead appear, 
and the charnel-houses rattle with the breaking coffins and 



438 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

the stirring nations ; all appear before the inexorable Judge 
— the investigation takes place — the decision is made and 
the sentence based on moral character is pronounced with 
deep-toned emphasis, causing eternal chords of weal or wo 
to vibrate. " Come ye blessed of my Father, and depart 
ye cursed into everlasting fire." These words will impress 
the congregated world, thrilling the bosom of the righteous 
with unutterable delight, and pouring the tide of consterna- 
tion and anguish upon the souls of the wicked. " Come 
ye blessed of my Father." Such a welcome into the king- 
dom of heaven uttered by the lips of the blessed God will 
inspire hope, confidence and inexpressible joy. While 
scenes tremendous and overwhelming surrounded them, 
deep solemnity pervading every heart, judgment in the 
court of heaven made up and Christ arising to pass sen- 
tence upon the human race, then to hear the cheering in- 
vitation of heaven, "Comje ye blessed," will dispel every 
doubt, animate the pulsation of every heart, and light up 
with benignant smiles, the countenance of every one re- 
deemed and saved. Then they shall first properly realize 
the import and sweetness of the blessing of God — the tones 
of the benedictive voice of the Savior will send music of 
unearthly sweetness into their heart, every chord of love, 
feeling and veneration shall be waked up. Standing ap- 
proved, blessed and crowned of the Father, this will be 
sufficient to perfect their happiness, and permanently estab- 
lish them in the employments of the upper and better 
world. They shall inherit a kingdom, where God's will is 
the supreme and honored law, all its subjects holy, wor- 
shiping their Creator ; consummate peace and tranquillity 
will abound throughout its limits, and where God shall be 
their benignant Sovereign, and they shall be his people. 
This kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the 
world and made the ceaseless fountain of perfect bliss, 



I ill. i i ii re \n:> QBNBSAL IUDGMEN1 . 189 

when all tears shall be wiped away, pure consolation with- 
out the admixture of sorrow shall be drunk from the goblet. 
of eternal love, all pain, sickness and sighing shall hare 
passed away, and vigor, health and praise supply their 
place, death and its dread dominion shall be conquered and 
destroyed, and immortality in holiness shall reign with ex- 
ultation and without hostility. 

The sentence which shall pronounce the righteous ac- 
cepted and blessed of God, will also insure the permanency 
of their holiness and happiness. They shall no more go 
Out, after having entered into everlasting life. They shall 
be lit companions of the angelic throng, be like unto them 
and enjoy redeeming bliss, and travel the same highway to 
endless perfection. The errands of mercy and goodness 
in the heavenly kingdom, they shall undertake and execute. 
Being accounted worthy of that world and the resurrection 
o( the dead, they shall mingle in employment and enjoy- 
ment with the angels of God. They shall gaze upon the 
glories of the same throne, and be changed from one glori- 
ous perfection unto another. 

But on the other hand, " He shall say unto those upon 
his left, Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for 
the devil and his angels." This sentence of wrath will fill 
up one vial of misery, mingled with pain, sorrow and the 
terrible upbraidings of conscience, and be poured upon the 
ungodly in one eternal curse. It will convulse every feel- 
ing and sensibility of heart, and raise a storm of undying" 
anguish ; and for the first time, they will realize the bitter- 
ness and overwhelming sorrow of the second death. All 
the imaginary appendages of perdition will flee as chaff, 
and nothing but stern reality will remain, and the elements 
of wo will send confusion and despair over the hearts of 
thronging millions. The hell of the ungodly is not only 

positively described, as admitting of degrees ; but it is also 
19 



440 THE FUTURE AND GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

negatively spoken of, as a deprivation of happiness and ho- 
liness. This place was originally prepared for the devil 
and his angels, and man only became an inhabitant of it as 
an intruder. He becomes a companion of the fallen angels 
by voluntary choice, and because he would sin against God, 
in defiance of mercy and divine remonstrance. From the 
judgment-seat, the ungodly will be driven into blackness of 
darkness forever. 

The last Judgment will be a closing scene ; changes great, 
ample and all-pervading, will precede the terminating period 
of time ; but all beyond will be one unbroken eternity, all 
things fixed by immutable fate. We have seen man in his 
fallen, degraded state, and viewed the opening fountain of 
mercy and salvation, and heard invitations free and full in 
melting strains to rebellious men, to reform and live for 
God — some \\eipt and believed in Christ, while others lined 
their hearts with brass and persisted in sin — they fell vic- 
tims to death, and were held under his temporary domin- 
ion — time rolled on to its utmost verge, the resurrection- 
morn dawned, the dead forsook their sleepy beds and woke 
to endless existence — the Judgment-hall was thronged, the 
books were opened, and the living race of men were judged, 
the righteous acquitted and welcomed on high, and the 
wicked condemned to a lasting overthrow and insufferable 
perdition. 

" Time gone, the righteous saved, and the wicked damn'dj 
And God's eternal government approved." 

Here God has raised his truth, uncompromising and im- 
mutable, standing in defiance of all cavils, doubts and as- 
sailing influences, scattering its beacon-light across the 
stormy sea of time, directing the watchful mariner into the 
haven of eternal safety. Who would refuse to gaze upon 
the blaze of heavenly light, and perish amid the foaming 



Tin: rtJTURI and OBlfSRAL JUDGMENT. 441 

breakers I Vain map I let light and truth guide your feci 
to heaven and in God; purify your hearts; plant your 

hope on Christ, and east anchor into the eternal throne; so 
that when all mysteries shall he solved, and the changeless 
destiny of the world fixed on the basis of moral character, 

you may stand with the heavenly throng <>n ;i. sea of holi- 
ness, and harping the immortal praises ofGod. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

" Fear God and keep his Commandments ; for this is 
the whole duty of man " Ecc. xii. 13. 

The words of Solomon contain the summary of religion. 
Whoever shall fear God with reverential and filial obedi- 
ence, and conscientiously and truly, observe his precepts 
and instructions, w r ill enjoy the power and glory of religion. 
Obedience to God will always tend to morality ; and the 
guidance of truth will always conduct to virtue and right. 
All error stands up in opposition and contrast with truth, 
and exerts a contrary and desolating influence. Whatever 
system contains the elements of error and falsehood, must 
necessarily be adapted to effect mischief and be productive 
of evil. Morality can never grow upon the tree of error, 
nor can vital religion be originated and nourished in a dis- 
belief and rejection of the essential doctrines of Christianity. 

That Universalism is a system of gross error, inasmuch 
as it contains none of the essential doctrines common to 
orthodox Christianity, we have abundantly proven in the 
foregoing pages. The reader may say, that Universalists 
make use of terms and phrases, and profess a belief of cer- 
tain doctrines common to christians, both in their public 
exercises and in their writings. This is readily acknowl- 
edged, and yet we are bold to declare, that the system of 
Universalism saps the very foundation of genuine religion, 
in doctrine and practice. 



ASCHI'.m:: OF BRROfi and [MMORAI EN TMDINCY. 141 

l. // is <t system of duplicity* 

The charge of double-dealing, dissimulation, and the use 
of terms and phrases Scriptural, and in common with ortho- 
dox teaching, merely to mislead, is pretty severe, and sounds 

harsh ; nevertheless it will seem so ohvious as to challenge 

a denial, when calmly and candidly considered. This spe- 
cies of procedure is eommon to all systems of error, and is 
only in keeping with the declaration of Christ, that those 
who do wickedly hate the light and dare not approach the 
light honestly, for fear of exposure. That Universalists in 
their preaching and writing, make use of the terms repent- 
Ofiee, faith, regeneration; and the phrases, that Christ is 
our Savior, and that all shall be saved and enjoy final holi- 
ness and happiness in consequence of the death of Christ — 
all this is undeniable ; but that they attach the meaning to 
the terms and phrases in which they are commonly under- 
stood, none among them of understanding, and of acquaint- 
ance with their system, will pretend to affirm. Inquire of 
Universalists whether they believe in repentance, the doc- 
trine of faith and regeneration, they will give you an une- 
quivocal answer in the affirmative ; but should you demand 
and receive a clear and honest avowal of the ideas they couch 
under these terms, their faith would appear a mere histori- 
cal belief; their repentance a mere sorrow and regret, and 
compunction of conscience an every day duty, and not a 
thorough and radical purpose to forsake the evil and live pi- 
ously and righteously in the world ; and their regeneration a 
mere change of party, opinion and mode of life for the better, 
as the drunkard becomes sober, and not a radical change of 
heart produced by the spirit of God. By the use of Scrip- 
tural phraseology, with new coined ideas, they deceive the 
people and impose upon the community in the most un- 
candid manner, and with treacherous duplicity. Without 



444 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

a thorough cross-examination you will fail of arriving at a 
clear knowledge of their real sentiments. When they de- 
clare, that all will be saved, because Christ died for all, the 
common reader or hearer would infer, that the rest, holiness 
and eternal happiness of the soul, were received through the 
channel of the atonement, and were wholly attributable to 
the mediation of Christ, when their meaning is far from this ; 
for they do not believe that heaven was ever forfeited by 
sin, and secured and inherited through Christ ; for as Ballou 
says, that it is an utter mistake to assert that Christ came 
into this world to save us in another ; and as Jason Lewis 
declares, that religion is designed only to make us holier 
and better in this world. The fact is, though Universalist s 
employ many cant phrases and Scriptural terms, yet there 
is not a single doctrine of the Bible looked upon by chris- 
tians as essential, which they, as a denomination, hold. 
Their theory is a complete overturning of all the fundamen- 
tal doctrines of Holy Writ. 

Here is an important reason, why every community 
should be indoctrinated in their occult meaning and wary 
expositions ; lest they snatch the hook of Universalism 
and delusion, because baited with Scriptural phrases and Is- 
rael's language. Beware of hypocrisy and duplicity as 
used to decoy, mislead and destroy ; and recollect that Pe- 
ter has long since warned the people against those teach- 
ers, " who \\\X\i feigned ivords make merchandise of souls." 
(2 Peter ii. 1 — 3.) Honesty and candor demand, that 
when men employ words and phrases out of the ordinary 
meaning, that they should fairly and clearly explain the 
ideas or peculiar doctrine they wish to convey. This will 
preclude deception, and manifest, at least an upright and 
fair intention. Double-dealing and duplicity should never 
characterize the deportment of those who would stand forth 
as public teachers of the holy religion of heaven, yet every 



i.i.xi. or BRROH ami immokm. in TENDENCY. 445 

quainted with the system of 1 1 niversalism, : 1 1 1 < 1 their 

public leaching has been impressed with this gran aid de- 
plorable error. 

S, UmoersaUsm is a system of gross error and full 
of palpable contradictions. 

We presume that the candid reader of tin. preceding 

pages is fully Convinced Of this fact, and yet it seems im- 
portant to recapitulate and place in juxtaposition, the most 
prominent doctrines of U niversalism, in order to render 
this point the more obvious and comprehensive — to give 
the reader a bird's-eye view of the more important features 
of the system. 

The system of Universalism teaches, that all the rational 
world must necessarily be finally, holy and happy ; their 
other arguments are presented to prove and fortify this sen- 
timent. They deny the doctrine of innate depravity, and 
assert that all are born as pure as Adam was, when he came 
from the plastic hand of his Maker — that heaven has never 
been forfeited by sin, and that the approbation of God has 
never been lost, and consequently that the children of men 
need no restoration to the favor of God, — that it is absurd to 
exhort men to secure an interest in Christ, and that men 
must necessarily, and as a matter of unfailing certainty, 
walk forth from the grave amid the glories of heaven. — 
They deny that sin has its origin in the soul, but assert that 
[ins and ends in the flesh ; that it is not a very great 
and culpable evil, nor fatal in its results ; that upon the 
whole, the universe is better off with the introduction and 
presence of sin, than it would be in the absence of sin. — 
They deny that the results or punishment of sin were ever 
designed to vindicate the authority and government of God, 
but to reform and amend the characters of its subjects — to 
make them holy and happy — that punishment is the grand 
ordeal of purification, the greatest blessing that can befall 



4-46 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

the children of men, and the chief physician to heal all our 
woes. They teach that all men are saved from sin hy 
Christ, yet they reject the doctrine of the atonement, and 
brand with injustice the vicarious sufferings of Christ; they 
assert, that in view of the death of Christ, there is no re- 
demption from the penalty of the law, or from any of the 
consequences of sin, but that all must be punished for all 
their sins deserve. Therefore, salvation is no deliverance 
from deserved punishment, for that would be unjust ; nor 
can it be from sins that are past, or from the actual com- 
mission of sin ; for millions sin until life closes, and they 
cannot be saved in the next world from sin ; for, according 
to Universalism, there can be no sin there — thus salvation 
is a sham, a patchwork of antiquated divinity, and a word 
without meaning and of empty sound in the vocabulary of 
Universalism. They deny the doctrine of the divinity of 
Christ, and assert that he was essentially and only a man, 
that all his eminence consisted in his office, and the annoint- 
ing of the Father, therefore, his death was only in attesta- 
tion of the truth, and that men are not benefited and saved 
by the death of Christ, but by believing his truth and doc- 
trine only — that none would be lost had Christ never died; 
for hell is a fable and all future punishment is a relic of gross 
superstition. They deny that this life is a state of proba- 
tion, and assert that all actions, whether good or bad, will 
confine their influence to this world, and that no deed, how- 
ever good or bad, will effect in the least, the future destiny 
of man— all will stand up from the grave upon a perfect 
equality of character and blissful prospect, and walk forth 
upon a level, the highway of holiness, clothed with purity 
and immortality, and the delightful song of praise bursting 
from overflowing hearts of joy. They say that men ought to 
repent, have faith and be regenerated, but deny that these are 
conditions of salvation — thev assert that no one will fail of 



UME Of BRBOB and IMMORAL in TENDENCY. 4 17 

final happiness and salvation in heaven, for the want of re- 
pentance, faith and regeneration. They declare thai there 
will be :i judgment, they write and speak of judgment; but 

they believe that it will not take place at any specified pe- 
riod, but transpired at the destruction of Jerusalem or else 

dating from thence and continuing through all time. They 
believe in the resurrection of the dead, of the whole man, 
but deny the resuscitation of the identical bodies of the 
children of men — their reasoning would deny the immateri- 
ality of tlu^ soul, and that eternal being and well-being will 
depend exclusively upon the resurrection of the dead. — 
Thev believe that Christ instituted the ordinances of Bap- 
tism and the Lord's Supper, but declare, that their observ- 
ance is optional and of doubtful utility. 

They believe that there is a devil, a tempter, but deny 
the existence of such a devil as orthodoxy inculcates, that 
he has a real and personal existence. Walter Balfour 
labors through two hundred pages to prove that all the Bi- 
ble means by Satan, devil, tempter, &c, are lust or desire, 
such as Eve had, and Jesus Christ was tempted with : or 
any human adversary, or any thing in opposition ; or the 
Babean and Chaldean freebooters, the satan and devil men- 
tioned in the first two chapters of Job. He denies all real 
and personal devil, and finds a consistent interpretation of 
the Bible, in considering the terms satan, devil, the old ser- 
pent, the prince of the power of the air, &c, as synonymous 
with lust, adversary, robbers and freebooters. But how is 
all this reconcilable with the fact. 

1. That a personal pronoun is applied to the devil and he 
is described as a personal being, speaking and acting by 
voluntary choice? Lust is only excited as moved upon by 
temptation, and not voluntarily. A carnal mind could not 
be the tempter of Eve, or of Christ in the wilderness, they 
both were holy and without the defiling influences of sin. 
19* 



448 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

The tempter could have been no other adversary than a 
distinct personal devil. 

2. The representations of the Scriptures of the devil and 
satan are inconsistent with the idea of freebooters, a mere 
human adversary, or any inimicial thing, and the lust or 
carnal mind. The Scriptures represent the devil, as a fallen 
angel, (2 Peter ii. 4. Jude v. 6,) — he meets with the sons 
of God, walks to and fro and tempts to devour, (Job. i. 6 — 
8. 1 Peter v. 8, 9,) — as nourishing and disseminating the 
children of the wicked one, (Matth. xiii. 24 — 30,) — he takes 
up the word of God out of the heart, (Luke viii. 12,) — he 
takes advantage of the lusts and incontinency of men to pre- 
sent his enticements, (1 Cor. vii. 5,) — he is the father of 
the wicked, apostatized from the truth and the author of all 
lies and falsehoods, (John viii. 44,)— sinners are of the de- 
vil and he is called the wicked one, (1 John iii. 8. v. 18,) — 
the devil as the dragon and old serpent is cast out of hea- 
ven, (Rev. xii. 9,) — he enters Judas, the betrayer of Christ, 
(John xiii. 27,) — and all should resist the devil and he will 
flee. (James iv. 7. Eph. vi. 11, 12.) 

3. The temptation of Christ in the wilderness, and the 
devils entering into the herd of swine feeding, can never be 
reconciled with the ideas of lust, or a mere human enemy 
as being all that is meant by the devil and satan. (Matth. iv. 
1—11. Luke viii. 27— 33.) 

In the foregoing pages we have furnished the reader with 
abundant specimens of the gross errors and palpable incon- 
sistencies of the doctrines and arguments of Modern Uni- 
versalism ; but it may not be amiss to give a few additional 
passages of Scriptures and their interpretation, which were 
passed by, to show that every passage of Holy Writ is 
perverted when applied to prove the system of Universa- 
lism. 



A SC1IEMK OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 449 

Is. wv. 6 — 10. "And in this mountain Bhatt the Lord 

of hosts make unto oil people a feast of fat things, $»c." 
By Dniversalists this text is looked upon as a promise as- 
suring the final salvation of all mankind, inasmuch as it 
promises a feast provided "unto all people," and that the 
Lord will "destroy the covering east overall people," and 
"wipe away tears from off all faces." Whether the text 
will prove the conclusion of Universalism, will admit of a 
doubt. All the text means, is, that the gospel and atone- 
ment of Christ are provided, for all the children of men — 
that the vail of darkness and idolatry shall be destroyed by 
the light of the gospel, and the people shall at all times and 
ev ery where be under the obligation to repent — that the re- 
buke of His people shall be taken from off all the earth, and 
all tears, sorrows and discomfort, shall be wiped away from 
off the faces of the righteous — and that Moab, or all the 
wicked " shall be trodden down as straw is trodden down 
for the dung-hill." Though the gospel as a feast is offered 
to all, yet none are benefited except those who comply 
with the call of mercy and eat of the feast. None shall 
reach heaven except those who tread the narrow and hea- 
venly way, though all are invited to walk the King's high- 
way. The Lord has provided a rich banquet ; the gospel 
is adapted to disperse as mist, the covering of ignorance ; 
the promises to pour a stream of consolation into the hearts 
of men, and cause them that wait upon him, to rejoice and 
be glad : but whosoever shall excuse himself and rebel 
against the gospel of God shall be trodden down as straw 
for a dunghill. This is what Isaiah teaches — -joy to the 
believer, and fearfulness and trembling to hypocrites and 
sinners. 

Is. lv. 10, 11. "For as the rain cometh down and the 
snow, from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth 
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may 



450 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN* TENDENCY. 

give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater ; so shall my 
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not re- 
turn unto me void ; but it shall accomplish that which I 
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto 1 sent it." 
This passage is adduced by Universalists as conclusive proof 
that the purpose and promise of God shall be fulfilled in 
despite of the agency of men ; man can no more resist the 
effect of the word of God than he can counteract the in- 
fluence of the rain and snow which come down from hea- 
ven. As the rains cause the seed sown to vegetate, to give 
seed to the sower and bread to the eater ; so God's word 
shall not return void, but effect his purpose. 

After all, these passages imply and the consequences spo- 
ken of are based, upon the agency of man. Though the 
rain, snow and sunshine are sent upon the earth without 
the agency of man ; so it is with the word of God : but all 
these agencies will not produce seed to the sower and bread 
to the eater, unless man tills and sows his fields — here is 
the agency of man. The Lord God sends forth his word 
to enlighten, instruct and save the children of men ; yet 
none will be benefited unless they come to the light, open 
the heart and cherish docility of mind to receive the engraf- 
ted word of God, and believe the truth and record of his 
Son. Behold then, the conditionally of this promise, and 
the purpose of God in the salvation of the soul based on 
the agency and faith of the creature, man. 

Lam. iii. 31. "The Lord will not cast off forever." — 
This passage, in the eye of a Universalist, teaches the limi- 
tation of punishment and the consequent salvation of all 
men. This text has no application to the wicked in the 
future world, and to future punishment ; but merely to the 
Jews, who then were in captivity in Babylon. The Psalmist 
rehearses the same sentiment when he says, (xciv. 14,) — 
" For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he 



HEME OF ERROR and [MMORAI in TENDENCY. 451 

Ice his Inheritance." After the lapse of seventy > 
iptive daughter of Zion was restored to the land and 
i of her fathers, therefore, the Lord did ftot cast 
off his people forever, nor grieved the children of men with 
affliction to no purpose. The above passage docs not con- 
tradict, nor set at defiance those passages of the Bible, 

winch declare, that all who forsake the Lord shall he cast 
oil' forever, (1 Chron. xxviii. 9,) and that the Lord will for- 
sake all such who apostatize from him, (2 Chron. xv. 2,) 
and that all who ohcy not the gospel of God shall he pun- 
ished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord and dory of his power. (2 Thess. i. 8.) 

Vet the above passage is ever flowing from the lips of 
Universalists in confirmation of their peculiar dogma. — 
The system of Universalism combines more gross errors 
and evident contradictions, assuming to be based on the 
Scriptures and setting forth the truth of God, than any other 
system of delusion, with the same pretensions. Its own 
dogmas are in stern conflict with each other, and its rules 
of interpretation, outrage language and the connections of 
Scripture. That such doctrines, as Universalism unfolds, 
should be disastrous to a Scriptural religion and sound mo- 
rality, might be conclusively inferred ; but when we adopt 
the Saviour's rule, by their fruit ye shall know them, all 
our doubts are dispersed, and matter of fact rises up with 
incontestable evidence, proving the immoral tendency of 
the system. 

3. Universalism is immoral in its tendency. In order 
to prove this position, it is not essential that we prove that 
every believer in Universalism must necessarily be immoral 
in character. Although this may be the result to a practi- 
cal believer in its system of doctrine, yet persons may be 
moral in defiance of its legitimate influence, from causes 
extraneous to Universalism, and from habits formed prior to 



452 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

the time when they embraced its doctrines. That hundreds 
and thousands are confirmed in their vicious practices, con- 
tinue to tread the same path of profligacy and death, and 
that many grow worse and worse, being deceived and de- 
ceiving others, are facts blazoned forth in the noonday sun. 
There are men, who after days and years of honest living, 
and prayer and piety, for reasons best known to God, em- 
braced Universalism ; while some have held on to a res- 
pectable life, many others have let go their moorings and 
plunged like a vessel without a crew, into breakers and rocks 
of utter apostacy, profligacy and death. 

One of the immoral tendencies of Universalism as now 
prevailing, is, 

1. That it cultivates irreverence for the Bible. If any, 
there are but few, who believe that the Bible, in all its parts, 
was given by the inspiration of God. And in the rejection 
of the plenary inspiration of the Bible, they have not de- 
fined clearly, as all wise teachers should do, what parts are 
inspired and what uninspired ; but all is left at loose ends, 
and optional with the reader and teacher of divine truth. 
This very course must necessarily beget a want of confi- 
dence in the Bible, bordering on the confines of Deism. 
The truth is, whenever the Bible is read with a captious 
spirit, and with a mind unsettled in reference to the full in- 
spiration of the Scriptures, its influence cannot be very 
salutary, and the spirit of God must be grieved away. Add 
to this, that the Bible is seldom, if ever, read for religious 
devotion in the closet, or at the family altar, hence there 
seems to be abundant evidence to support the position, that 
Universalism fosters an irreverence for the Word of God. 
This is a grievous and fatal stride to the formation of im- 
moral opinions and character. 

2. It fosters a spirit of contempt for private, social and 
public devotion, for ardent piety and zeal in practical relig- 



A scin:mi: o\- BRROB and immoral in ti:n i>i:\cy. 4f)3 

inn, as being no better than rani, and the effect* of a sickly 

imagination. Whoever comes in contact with the sj 

of modern Universalism and its votaries, must be satisfied 

on this point, for tins is a never (ailing fruit of the doctrine 
of the luiiversalist's salvation. This voice of contempt for 

ardent piety and a prayerful religion is heard, in the family 

circle, in the public congregation, at their conventions, and 
from the pulpit, coupled at times with a very characteristic 
sneer. Let men scout at a spiritual religion, conversion of 
the heart, praying every where with holy hands uplifted to 
God, and a flaming zeal in his cause, and at all genuine re- 
vivals of religion ; then the ripe clusters of immoral fruit 
shall not be wanting, the unbridled passions will drive the 
victims of delusion in hot haste down the steps of immor- 
ality and ruin. Let a servant of the gospel follow the foot- 
steps of Christ, preach all day and pray all night, weep 
over lost and infatuated sinners, and refuse to replenish the 
wants of his fatigued body, being so intent on the great 
work of converting souls to the riches of eternal grace, and 
he will be the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt, and 
his religion denounced as rant, enthusiasm, and the effect of 
a fevered imagination. All this is grossly immoral in ten- 
dency, and will successfully arm the conscience and judg- 
ment against the impressions of the Holy Spirit. 

3. Universalism blunts the conscience and blends all dis- 
tinctions of characters in their issues. 

Two positions are strenuously advocated by them, which 
manifestly blend all moral traits of human character. They 
maintain, that the approbation of God is never lost by sin, 
and that in the resurrection, the sons of men shall walk 
forth clothed with immortal righteousness and commence 
the journey of eternity without distinction of moral charac- 
ter — all shall be placed upon a common level. Such being 
their avowed sentiments, no other theology is acceptable 



454 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

than such as abrogates the moral standard, that vice and 
virtue, good and bad, the righteous and the sinner, are dis- 
tinct in character and in their present and final results. The 
theory and the practice of Universalism, adopt the language 
that Malachi ascribes to the wicked Jews, " Every one 
that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he de- 
lighteth in them ; or, where is the God of judgment." 
(Mai. ii. 17.) And the course pursued by their teachers, 
and the results of their labors have been described by the 
prophet Ezekiel, " Because with lies ye have made the 
hearts of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and 
strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not 
return from his wicked way, by promising him life." (Ez. 
xiii. 22.) The God of Israel also complained of the proph- 
ets in the days of Jeremiah, charging them with adultery 
and lies ; in addition, he says, " they strengthen also the 
hands of evil doers, that none doth return from his wick- 
edness : they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the 
inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah." (Jer. xxiii. 14.) — 
Though the teachers of Universalism may declaim against 
certain vices, and exhort to a moral, honest and upright life, 
yet their general theory and uniform course of promising 
life and heaven to the wicked, entirely neutralizes their spe- 
cial pleading for virtue and uprightness, and makes ineffect- 
ual their labors to reform and convert souls to God. We 
are yet to learn the instances of souls converted, or even 
pungently convicted under their ministry ; but many have 
been encouraged in sin, and have made themselves believe 
that all is well, and that they shall not be excluded from 
heaven for want of a moral and religious character. The 
fact is, that no atrocity of character, abominable wicked- 
ness, gambling, profane swearing, Sabbath breaking, afford 
the least objection of church fellowship, or exclude any 
from the bonds of brotherhood. When men say, that they 



111 mi: OP I2RROR \\i> IMMORAL in TENDS N( \. loo 

believe the doctrines and attend their church, they are wel- 
comed cordially. 

In the year of our Lord IRK), the following circumstance 
came under our notice, Bhowing the standard of morality 
conformed to by some Universalis^, There was a certain 
(Jniversalisi clergyman, of the State of Vermont, whose 

Wife for some reason had left him, and after the space of 

three years, he applied to the Supreme Court for a divorce, 

hut his petition was not granted* He, however, proceeded 
to marry another wile. Thereupon, a Council of his breth- 
ren was called, consisting of the following persons : H. 
Ballon, O. A. Skinner, L. Willis, W, Balfour, J. C.Waldo, 
E. Hewett, and B. B. Muzzey, and they gravely decided, 
that he had "not violated any principles of morality.''' — 
The ground of their decision was, that the conduct of his 
true wife, in leaving him and being absent for three years, 
would entitle him to a divorce by the laws of Vermont.— 
The unvarnished and imwhitewashed fact, however is, that 
he was guilty of bigamy, and a fit candidate for the State 
Prison, and yet by a Council of his ministerial brethren, he 
was justified and hailed as a beloved brother. This stub- 
born narrative affords a dark picture of the morality and 
distinction of moral character as entertained by Universal- 
And why not consistent, since God will exclude none 
from glory, why should they be more holy than God and 
iich immoral recreants out of the pale of their com- 
minion \ Though wicked, yet it is consistent with Uni- 
ism : this, no candid person will deny. 

I. (Jniversalism is immoral in its tendency, because none 
are reformed and brought to God by a living religion, under 
ifluence and ministry. 

W( have resided for about eight years in the midst of an 
organized society, where they have maintained nearly dur- 
ing the whole time, the preaching of their faith by almost as 



45G A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

many different pastors, and yet we have not heard of a 
single case of conversion to God, while by the preaching 
of the orthodox faith many scores of souls have been trans- 
lated into the glorious kingdom of God. But on the con- 
trary, we have seen those who profess their "glorious faith," 
and heard profane language fall from their lips as thick as 
the leaves of autumn. They habitually violate the Sabbath 
and look upon its observance as a matter of convenience, 
and not of divine obligation. Social visits paid and received 
are a matter of frequent occurrence ; so are starting on a 
journey, and doing secular business. The profane persist 
in their wicked habit — the gamblers in this pernicious prac- 
tice, going from their house of worship and gathering around 
the card table — the gay, the reckless and careless pursue 
the same condemnatory course of life — the young flaunt 
along the stage of time and visit the ball-chamber as a plea- 
surable and innocent recreation, without reproof from par- 
ents or a reprimand from their pastor ; yea, their course is 
at times vindicated from the pulpit. The drunkard empties 
his cups and glories in Universalis m. Under all these di- 
rect and concomitant influences, how can we expect souls 
to become convicted of sin, converted to God and made 
alive in Christ?" The wicked are strengthened in their 
evil-doings." In the midst of such scenes of revelry, pro- 
fanity and death, to hear such sentiments fall from the lips 
of a Universalist preacher, " The greater the sinner, the 
greater the saint in heaven," what marvel that none are 
reformed and converted to God. Under the influence of 
such a ministry, morality must wither and die, the young 
become depraved, the aged emboldened in sin, until the 
community is turned into a Sodom. 

There are those who are possessed of common morality 
and cultivate a self-respect for uprightness and honesty ; but 
these traits of character are no more the legitimate fruit of 



a schi.mi: Of RRROft and immoral in tendency. 157 

Universalis!!! than figs grow on thistles and apples on 
thorns. Manv were brought np in life under the influence 

of a different faith — some by religions parents, and others, 

have once professed (he religion of Christ — -and some feel 

the necessity of maintaining an orderly walk, from surroun- 
ding influences. But generally the vicious continue vicious ; 
the profane pour forth a perpetual stream of bitterness and 
foul imprecations ; the drunkard follows his cups ; and the 
praverless and giddy remain the same lifeless and reckless 
sinners, as they were before they professed the faith of 
rniversalism. Many loose their habits of sobriety, respect 
for virtue and the Bible, and plunge from billow to billow, 
till they sink into the vortex of blank Atheism, follow- 
ing the fatal example of the illustrious Abner Knee- 
land. The once orderly and virtuous, who embrace this 
licentious doctrine, become reckless, vile and fit compan- 
ions for Thomas Paine. " Their way seemeth right, but 
the end thereof is death." 

5. None are made prayerful and strict in attending to re- 
ligious, personal and public duties. 

Go into a community where Universalism prevails, and 
you will find it prayerless ; or visit a family of that faith 
and there is no family altar, no reading of the Scriptures as 
a devotional act, and no evening or morning incense or 
prayer. All is cold, lifeless and worldly. Among the va- 
rious families in this place who profess and adhere to this 
faith, there cannot a single one be found that attends to this 
duty. And no marvel, since family worship is generally, 
if not universally, neglected by those who preach this faith. 
By some, prayer has been discarded from the pulpit, by 
others at the conclusion of the sermon. Many neglect the 
asking of a blessing and the rendering of thanks when they 
partake of the provision needed to restore sinking nature. 
If their ministers live prayerless, what else can be expect- 



458 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

ed of the membership. For them to pray, is as much a lit- 
erary task as the writing of a sermon, or learning Algebra. 
Said a father, whose son just began to hold forth in public, 
" My son preaches a good sermon, but he has not yet 
learned to pray." He preached their faith to the world, 
but omitted public prayer, for the reason that he had not 
learned to pray. How much religion must such a preach- 
er have, who cannot as yet pray ? Wonder whether such 
a man ever prays and holds sweet communion with God 1 
We can answer without the spirit of prophecy. 

Here and there, a family may attend to family worship ; 
but they are like angel visits few and far between. As a 
general thing, the curse pronounced by the prophet is ap- 
priate to them as a people, " Pour out thy fury upon the 
heathen that know thee not, and upon families that call not 
on thy name.'' 9 Jer. x. 25. 

Social prayer-meetings are strangers among them. These 
meetings they cannot endure, and in their estimation they 
are not calculated to foster personal piety or promote the 
cause of God. And it is in perfect keeping with the ten- 
dency of Universalism, to exhibit unconcern and recklessness 
to a life of rectitude and deep-toned piety in relation to hea- 
ven and future happiness, for this reward is certain, having 
never been forfeited by sin. All the doubts and anxieties, 
which throng and molest the mind of Universalis ts, are not 
the promptings of their faith, but of the spirit and truth of 
God ; for their faith directly tends to soothe, benumb and 
cherish reckless inditFerence. Their destiny is fixed in the 
best possible manner, and no agency of theirs, harmonious 
with the will of God, or perverse, can in the least change it. 
This is Universalism. Why then should they feel any 
particular solicitude, cultivate personal piety, pray, ex- 
hort and warn others publicly and in private to flee from 



mimi. OF ERROR WD immoral l\ TENDENCY. I.V.I 

tin 1 wrath tO i'cmic I The natural influence of Universa- 
lism, unrestricted and unimpeded, would Stagnate themoral 

world and hear along the human family into glory, 
broad and sweeping river hears along its floodwood, with- 
out any effort on their part. The Tact is, that Universalisni 

consistently carried out, is a libel on the moral nature of 
man, his emotions and the admonitions of conscience, as 
well as upon divine revelation. It cannot, therefore, be 
otherwise than grossly immoral in its tendency. 

o\ It professes to be based upon the love of God, and to 
all men ; hut in fact and in its fruits, it is any thing but love. 
To say nothing about their feelings towards those of a dif- 
ferent faith from their own, for an article cannot be written 
for a paper, nor a sentence drop from the pulpit, making re- 
flection upon their faith, but it exasperates their feeling and 
excites better animadversions. They have no love for peo- 
ple who go not with them, and cannot endure remarks con- 
firmatory of orthodoxy without characteristic exhibitions of 
disgust and irascible feelings. To see the want of frater- 
nal love, we need but examine their own communion and 
sanctuary proceedings. Bitter feelings and open ruptures 
are no uncommon occurrence among them, between minister 
and people, and among their brethren. The fruit is any 
thing but the manifestation of love ; and these ruptures do 
not exist as the result of discipline for wicked conduct, for 
they exercise no discipline for offences and crimes. If they 
did, they would have abundant materials to discipline among 
ministers as well as people. 

Whoever w r ishes to learn the moral tendency of Univer- 
salism, let him read the book of M. H. Smith, a preacher of 
Universalism for twelve years, but lately converted to the 
gospel and religion of Christ. True, aspersions are thrown 
upon his character, and his veracity is impeached by his for- 
mer associates; nevertheless let them disprove his statements, 



460 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

before they can expect to shake the confidence of the world 
in his portraiture of the fruits of Universalism. It will add 
but little to the credit of the moral tendency of that sys- 
tem, though they should be able to prostrate the character 
of Smith, so long as they do not subvert his statements and 
dates. The truth is, the charges, which they insinuate, 
should they prove tangible, would fall upon him while 
he remained in connection with them, thus striking an addi- 
tional wound upon their cause for sustaining an infamous 
man. It seems to us, the production and disclosure of Mr. 
Smith fell like a thunderbolt upon their system of delusion 
and death ; and they felt the necessity of raising a great 
cry, and using hard names, in order to abate the storm that 
was setting in against them. But their effort will be una- 
vailing to heal the wounded head of the old dragon. 

We have an additional evidence to prove the immoral 
tendency of Universalism in the experience and testimony 
of the Rev. Wm. Whittaker, of New York, who recently 
renounced his former faith as unworthy of confidence, and 
prolific of evil and death. The letter was written to the 
people of his charge, by which he dissolved his connection 
with them as their pastor. The letter is as follows : 

" To the Trustees of the 4th Universalist Society, Du- 
arte street. 

Dear Brethren :• — I hope you will excuse the liberty 
I have taken in addressing these few lines to you, on a sub- 
ject which I deem of infinite importance. 

It is now about two years since I first commenced my 
labors among you, and you will not deem it an instance of 
vanity, if I say that my efforts to advance the cause of 
Universalism have been generally approved, and singularly 
successful. 

To this you have frequently borne testimony, for which 
you have my warmest acknowledgments. 



a miikmi; OF BRROB and immoral in ti:ni>i;ncy. 461 

Hut in looking calmly and dispassionately at the result of 
my ministration, there is one drawback to my happiness — 

our source of disquietude winch rests heavily upon my 

mind. 

By the providence of God, 1 have recently been led to 

ask myself the following questions : 

What have I done to promote practical piety among my 
congregation ? 

Have I induced them to become a deeply religious peo- 
ple — a praying people ? 

Alas ! I am constrained to answer these questions in the 
negative, and to take unto myself shame and confusion of 
face. 

Now, if the doctrine I have preached be the truth of God, 
ought I not to have expected a different result ? What then 
is the unavoidable inference ? Why, that Universalism is ' 
not a Scripture doctrine. 

Perhaps you may think this a hasty conclusion, but I 
assure you, it is not. 

I have been led by the Spirit of God to investigate its 
claims — I have prayed to the Almighty that he would en- 
lighten my understanding, and lead me to the knowledge of 
the truth, and blessed be his holy name, he has heard, and 
answered my petition. 

I can truly say, that I now see and feel the importance 
of personal religion, in a manner that I have never done be- 
fore ; and I ardently beseech the " Giver of every good and 
perfect gift," that he may open your eyes, and give you to see 
that Universalism is but a " cunningly devised fable," cal- 
culated to darken the mind, harden the heart, and induce 
mankind to wander from the paths of righteousness and 
peace. 

Such being my convictions, I can advocate it no longer; 
and beseech you as you hope for mercy at the bar of the 
Almightyy to renounce it immediately. 



462 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

Do not, I pray you, suffer yourselves to be deluded by a 
sentiment, which is dangerous and licentious in all its ten- 
dency. By renouncing it, you lose nothing, for if it is 
true, you, in common with the whole world, will be saved 
— but if it is false, — oh ! remember — remember — the awful 
consequences. 

But I must close, and may the Lord grant, that you to- 
gether with my dear congregation, may soon be led to see 
and feel the necessity of an interest in the atoning blood of 
Jesus, which is the ardent prayer of your sincere friend," 

" Wm. Whittaker." 

We might add the testimony of other men, and from 
those too who are still in connection with that fraternity. 
H. Ballou 2d, compares Universalist societies to " worth- 
less carcasses, which are half buried" — " a festering corrup ■ 
tion on the face of the earth." They not only embrace 
profane, licentious and infidels outright ; but they make 
every effort to block up the wheels of the gospel, and coun- 
teract the influence of vital piety. In every revival of reli- 
gion they bluster, and foam, and spew out their gall, evi- 
dently proving their feelings and regard for the cause of 
God. As their faith excludes none from the inheritance of 
heaven, so whenever they celebrate the communion of the 
Lord's Supper, they offer the bread and wine promiscuous- 
ly to all, irrespective of character or age. Yet there are 
some, who feel that this is carrying the joke too far and 
therefore they stand aloof. O, the licentious and prostrat- 
ing influence of such a system ! May God arrest it, and 
rescue its victims from the thraldom of delusion and death ! 

4. Being thus immoral in its influences, it should be dis- 
countenanced by all who are lovers of their race, of religion 
and of God. 

The true principle, by which men should be governed in 



HEMF ,,. m. IMX0RA1 IN 

t h rl ip with other men, and all - 

is iuqulcated by John, the apostle ofi 
:lllN onto 5 mi and bring noj thi doctria* him not 

u><\ neither bid him God-i , »hn 

i. 10.) It may be lawful Tor mm to thorough^ invi 
any system offered for their approbation and credence; but 
not to countenance and Lend the influence of il. 
to 0ie assembly of its votaries when proved to be errone- 
p and a pseudo-christi^nity. So Ear aua to give counte- 
namv to by joining thei lies, whether 

ordinary, oir extraordinary, or upon Mineral occasions, the 
unetimes adopted, thai by going to hear Uni- 
preach, we shall induce them to attend the ortho- 
dox pleaching of the gospel. However plausible the above 
son, it is more specious than sound. They themselves 
being judges, there can be no destructive consequences fol- 
lowing, in giving their attendance occasionally or constantly 
10 the word preached by orthodox ministers; for God's ap- 
>n is not lost in this life, and no action or course of 
life can affect for weal or wo, the eternal destiny of man ; 
but it is not so immaterial for those who are of the opposite 
faith to lend their influence and presence to a system of 
* hood, and finally resulting in unmixed evil. Here is 
iminality, creating an encouragement to those who are 
■tied in their impious faith, to persist in their downward 
. aftd to stifle conviction, and suppress the qualms of 
ace of those who are half persuaded to intrust their 
to the efficacy of Universalism. 
b of this nefarious scheme of delusion are 
ad edified by the presence of some staunch 
1, and deeply pious before God, than 
half a dozen essays on their faith. Those who 
hold forth this delusive system, are always eager 
funeral occasions, because such a dis | 



464 A SCHEME OF ERROR AND IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. 

sation of Providence calls together people of all orders ; 
whereas, if people would generally act consistently, even 
upon such occasions, they would do much to correct the 
feeling and custom of many communities. Friends and 
relatives would not be so frequently imposed upon, their 
feelings insulted, and religion outraged under such peculiar 
circumstances. 

The Bible asserts, "Blessed is the man that walketh not 
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of 
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." But how 
can the christian and the christian minister avoid the trans- 
gression of this high and holy command, when they give 
countenance to Universalism, by joining their assemblies, or 
otherwise ? If the man is blessed who follows not the 
counsel of the ungodly, nor sits among the scornful and 
those who deride religion and a spiritual worship, then all 
such as mingle with the unrighteous and scoffers, under 
pretence of religious worship especially, are cursed of God. 
The system of doctrine and the practical fruit of Universal- 
ism prove incontestably, that it is a work of darkness, and 
a bold scheme of delusion; therefore ; as Paul imperatively 
commands his brethren not to have fellowship with the un- 
fruitful works of darkness ; so all the lovers of religion and 
of God should withhold their countenance and approbation 
from it, both in the family circle, and publicly. They espe- 
cially, who expose a corrupt heart, to the sweeping eddies 
of falsehood and error, run a very great risk of being carried 
off into the gulf of remediless ruin. Even if they can 
withstand the downward tendency of Universalism, they 
expose others, by their example, to a ruinous temptation, 
who are less stable and fortified. Avoid every appearance 
of evil, and especially the lurking viper and his poisonous 
bite. Build your hope upon the rock of truth, and your 
reliance on the grace and Wood of Christ for final salvation. 



mi: OF ERROR and IMMORAL IN TENDENCY. Hi,*) 

contented until the record of God is imprj 

by ilic type <>f truth, upon the tablet of your heart, your 
anchor of hope easi in heaven's broad bay, and your feet 
prepared to tread the pavement ot' the upper sanctuary, and 

wander amid the sylvan retreats of Paradise; until you ieel 
disposed, with a holy heart, to mingle your song in choral 
• ith the unnumbered millions of the redeemed. 

" He not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever 
a man soweth, that shall lie also reap. For he that sowetli 
to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that 
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 
And let us not be weary in well doing : for in due season 
<i/l reap, if ice faint not" (Gal. vi. 7 — 9.) Let us 
give the more earnest heed to the word and spirit of God, 
lest we fail of the rest prepared for His people. 

Mav the Lord keep us in the truth, and enable us to 
tread the highway of holiness, cast up for the ransomed of 
Christ ; and may He snatch those from the vortex of error 
who are already borne along by its sweeping and ingulf- 
ing waters ; and elevate us together to heaven through faith 
in the atoning and efficacious merits of Christ, our Lord 
and Redeemer. Amen, 



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